Desperate Measures
by IceKeys121
Summary: In a Kingdom where you either kill or get killed a young blonde with a unique power is wanted. Her body contains the power of the 12 golden keys that can grant the ultimate power. Lucy has to escape the clutches of the kingdom.As she hides from the kingdom she meets a man with raven hair who is willing to protect her. Will Lucy be able to escape the terrible future that awaits her?
1. Prologue

Desperate Measures

Prologue

In a Kingdom where the King didn't believe in happiness. Everyone outside the Kingdom fought with each other for survival.

In a kingdom where people died every single day. Survival was everyone's ultimate goal.  
You either kill or get killed.

That's how the King of Fiore, Jiemma wanted his kingdom.  
Everything was based on power.  
Only the strongest survived.

This is the Kingdom where a blond girl was born.

Her parents Layla and Jude Heartfilia possessed the 12 golden keys. The keys that possessed an incredible power that even the King wished to obtain.  
Jude thought that the best way to get rid of the keys would be implanting their power into their baby girl,Lucy.  
Layla was against these action but her husband thought that was the best decision.

Layla gave Lucy the 12 keys to keep in her possession. They were useless but she wanted her daughter to keep them.  
All the keys power was now insider of Lucy.

When Lucy turned 8 she started experiencing effects from her power.  
She would sometime start glowing or her eyes would turn a beautiful golden.  
Her hands sometimes would glow.

This didn't go unnoticed by the people of the Kingdom and soon the King was informed of these effects.

He soon sent his army to go after the Heartfilia's. He wanted the girl.  
He knew exactly what was going on.  
That girl had the power he needed and he would get it no matter what.

As soon as the Heartfilia's saw the army outside their home they hide Lucy.  
However, when the army executed Jude Layla hurried to find Lucy.

"Go to the forest near the Kingdom. There you're going to find a women called Porlyusica. She will be taking care of you. Please take care. Don't let them catch you, Lucy. Promise me you'll try your best to live! Please!" Layla told her daughter as tears ran down her face.

"I-I promise, Mama!" Lucy responded with tears forming on her brown orbs.

Layla pushed the girl towards an opened door.

" Go to the forest!" Layla yelled at the little girl.

She heard the kingdoms soldiers coming their way. She needed Lucy to leave.

"I love you Mama!" Lucy yelled to her mother as she ran away from her home.

Layla smiled and whispered out,"I love you too, Lucy."

Layla was taken to the Kingdom and was soon executed in front of the people of the kingdom.  
Her sin being that she possessed something that belonged to the King.

However, the keys weren't the Kings possession they were Layla's.

Lucy ran to the forest. She needed to find Porlyusica.  
She was scared and even though she had promised her mother she would live she was still scared and doubtful.  
She couldn't imagine surviving anything without her parents.  
She had seen her dead father and she knew that her mother was probably dead by know as well.

Tears fell down her beautiful brown eyes as she kept running to the forest.

When she arrived at the forest she saw an old women with pink hair standing by a tree.

"You must be Layla's daughter." The women said as she walked towards Lucy.

At first Lucy backed away a little from the women.  
However, seeing this women say her mothers name made her tear up and remember that she would never see her mother.

She hugged the women and cried.  
The women hugged her back and sighed.

She took the girl to her home.

It was a small house that was mostly covered by trees. You could barely tell that there was a house there.

It was a small place but it was perfect for just the two of them.

As time passed Lucy found out that Porlyusica was a healer.  
Porlyusica showed Lucy some of the things she knew about healing.  
Lucy was mesmerized by her work.  
The way Porlyusica's hands would glow as she healed people was magical in Lucy's eyes.

She soon started studying to become a healer just like Porlyusica.

As she got better she started helping Porlyusica heal people.

The towns people that would come to get heal started finding a liking to Lucy and she soon came to be known as Lucky Lucy.

As the years passed Lucy would only get better at her healing techniques.

She soon became a beautiful young lady. She had long blond hair that reached her lower back.

Porlyusica thought Lucy how to control the power of the 12 keys and Lucy could control some of the effects.

She wouldn't glow anymore but her eyes sometimes glowed when she would cry. Her tears where also quite unique. They weren't transparent like normal people.. They were golden tears.

She had a peaceful life with Porlyusica. However, Porlyusica was the only one that knew that Lucy was a Heartfilia. Since she was the most wanted person in the whole Kingdom.

Lucy liked being with Porlyusica and helping her heal people but she still wanted to go out of the Kingdoms forest.

She wanted to see what it was like outside the kingdom.  
She wanted to make friends.  
She wanted to learn more about the keys and the power she had gained from them.

However, Lucy's calm life wouldn't last forever.  
She soon would have to go through the challenges of staying alive.

As Lucy stood by the little house Porlyusica and her lived in by the forest a princess with long black hair walked around the castle with an evil grin on her face.

She was holding a knife in her hands covered in blood.

That day King Jiemma was found dead inside his room.

Lucy's real nightmare was about to begin..


	2. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

Chapter 1: The Princess Takes the Throne

King Jiemma had three children. He had two boys, Sting and Rogue and their older sister Minerva.  
The princess had always been known for having a dark personality just like her father.

There were rumors around the kingdom that said that all of the cruel ideas and decisions the King took had been first suggested by Minerva.

However, the King didn't always do what the princess told him to do.  
He also didn't believe she would ever become a good Queen for the kingdom and thought Sting or Rogue would be better as Kings.

As Minerva grew older she started despising her father.  
When she found out about the magnificent power of the 12 keys she had decided to use that power to take over the kingdom.

She was only 13 when her father had executed the Heartfilia's.  
However, she knew that neither Layla or Jude contained the power.  
Their daughter had ran away with the power she desired and she had made it her ultimate goal to find this girl and obtain that power.

As the years passed their were no signs of the young Heartfilia.  
The Kingdoms army never found a trace of the girl.

Minerva wanted the army to keep looking for Lucy Heartfilia but her father had stopped all searches for some time.

Minerva was more than furious about this.

She knew she would never be able to obtain that power unless she was in the throne as Queen.

However, the only way she could become Queen was if her father gave her the throne or if he suddenly died and she would have to take the throne since she was the oldest.

Minerva knew her father would never let her become Queen.  
That only left one option and that was to kill her father and take the throne.

Sting had soon found out about this plan and at first didn't want to get involved but was soon convinced by Minerva.

He was promised to have part of the power she would obtain form becoming Queen as well as to having part of the power she would gain from the 12 keys when she found the Heartfilia.

Orga and Rufus, the kingdoms strongest knights, also were part of Minerva's plan to kill the King.

Minerva waited patently for her plan to fall into place.

One night Minerva entered her fathers room with a knife.  
Her father slept peacefully as she walked towards his bed.

She touched her fathers cheek and whispered, "Sweet dreams father."

Minerva stabbed her father in the heart.

Her face wore a grin of accomplishment and pleasure.

She would finally become Queen.

She walked out her fathers bedroom grinning like a manic.

Orga and Rufus had cleaned everything and had organized everything to make it seem as if the king had committed suicide.

The next morning Rogue and some of the maids had found the King in his room dead.

People all around the Kingdom did believe that the King had probably committed suicide since he had been growing tired and had been experiencing problems with keeping order in the kingdom.

However, not everyone in the Kingdom believed this.

A young black haired prince was doubtful and he knew his older sister had something to do with his fathers death.

Soon the Princess was given the throne.

Minerva was now the Queen of Fiore.

Little did the Kingdom know that this new Queen was even worse then her father.  
Fiore had a horrible future ahead with this new Queen.

Minerva's ultimate goal as Queen was to find Lucy Heartfilia.  
She would do whatever it took to find her.  
She wouldn't leave it easy for the young Heartfilia as her father had.

She soon had sent out requests around the whole Kingdom and even to the towns and villages outside of the Kingdom.

She wanted this girl and she would pay highly for her capture.

This new request brought interest among the Kingdom but it brought even more interest to the outside villages.

People outside the Kingdom suffered from hunger and worked hard every day just to try and survive.  
Finding the girl and getting the Queens reward was something that interested many people.

Soon the whole country of Fiore was covered with request for the capture of Lucy Heartfilia.

"You'll soon will be in my possession, Lucy Heartfilia. When that happens I will take that power from you and kill you with my own hands." Queen Minerva said as she walked around the castle wearing a maniacal smile.

Outside the Kingdom a man with raven hair and dark blue eyes walked around a nearby town.  
He wore black pants and a long white coat.  
He noticed the requests for the young blond.

"A request from the Queen, huh. This seems interesting.." The man said with a grin.  
He crushed the request and shoved it into his pants pocket.

At that moment he thought it would be an easy job that could earn him quite a pay.  
However, he didn't know that he really was walking into a long journey filled with dangers he would of never imagined.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Desperate Meseares! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

Chapter 2: Alone Again

Porlyusica had always been a healthy women.  
Being a healer helped help her and she was able to take care of herself when she would get sick.

However, she had started to get sicker by the day.  
She couldn't treat herself and when Lucy would help treat her she would never feel any better.  
She didn't want to get Lucy worried and always told her that she was starting to feel better but in reality she was feeling worse each day.

She knew it was because of her old age.  
She couldn't get up out of bed anymore.

Everyday she would lay in bed and be tended by Lucy.

She also started to have extremely painful headaches.

The day that Lucy and Polyusica found out about the Kings death they had been very surprised.

Polyusica was even more surprised when she heard that the king had committed suicide.  
As the days passed and the new Queen started making changes in the Kingdom Porlyusica got worried that she would maybe target Lucy soon.

An old friend of Porlyusica, Makarov, had informed her that the Queen had sent requests all over Fiore for the capture of Lucy.

Porlyusica knew that Lucy would have to leave this place soon.  
They had to move to a safer place.  
However, her critical condition wouldn't let them move.  
She couldn't even stand.

Lucy had decided to go out for some medicine that Porlyusica needed.

Before Lucy could leave Porlyusica called her.

"Lucy promise me you'll take care of yourself out there." Porlyusica told Lucy.

Lucy smiled. Porlyusica had always been worried of her safety and just wanted to make sure she would be ok out there alone.

"I promise! I'll try to be back soon." Lucy said with a big smile.

She grabbed a small bag and headed out.

Porlyusica watched her leave and smiled.

"She grew to become quite a wonderful young lady, Layla." Porlyusica whispered out.

She glanced at the door one more time before closing her eyes.

As Lucy walked around a little town near the Kingdom she felt as if she was being watched.

She turned to see if anyone was following her but found no one.

When she was returning to the forest she heard footsteps behind her.

However, each time she would turn around no one would be there.

Lucy shrugged it off but still tried to walk faster and get home as soon as possible.

"I'm home!" Lucy said as she entered the small house.

Their was no response, though.

Lucy went to check on Porlyusica and found her laying in bed.

She hurried to check on her.  
As she checked her she noticed she wasn't breathing.  
She quickly checked on her pulse.

When she didn't feel anything she felt her heart stop.  
Her eyes started getting watery.

"No this can't be happening..No please don't leave me.." she said as she cried and tried anything she could to try and bring back Porlyusica.  
Though, she knew there was no way she could bring someone back to life.

Loud sobs could be heard all around their small house.  
Lucy couldn't accept the fact that the person who was like a mother to her had just passed away.

She was alone again.  
First her mother and now the person she had considered her mother for nine years.

She could have stayed days sobbing next to Porlyusica's bed but someone had crashed into her home minutes after.

She heard footsteps near the bedroom and froze.  
All she could hear were their footsteps and her loud heartbeats.

Someone opened the door. Two men stood before her.  
She quickly got up and ran out the window.

She had seen both men holding a knife. She had to go somewhere safe soon.  
She had promised her mother she would live.  
she had promised Porlyusica she would take care.  
And she would keep those promises.

As she ran through the forest she soon saw them running after her.

She had to find a place to hide.  
She saw a tree and decide she would climb it.

She started climbing and when she reached to the middle she saw the men arrive by the tree.

They looked up and both laughed at her.

"You think you'll be safe up there, girlie!" One of them yelled at Lucy.

She saw the other take out a gun.  
Her eyes went wide.  
Was it really the end..Lucy thought.

The man pointed the gun at her and smirked. "Come down and just turn yourself in! No one needs to get hurt..Just come down." the man told her.

Lucy knew that she would still get hurt by those man after turning herself in.  
She still had faith that she could maybe save herself.

As the man saw that Lucy had no intentions of turning herself in he shook his head and chuckled.

"Well I gave you a chance.." the man said.

Lucy balanced herself in the tree trunk. She had to find a place in which he wouldn't be able to hurt her.

However, she didn't have enough time to find a safe spot.  
Soon the man had shot the gun.

She moved to the side to dodge the bullet.  
However, she lost her balance and slipped.

She closed her eyes and expected to feel the impact of the fall but it never came.

Instead she felt a pair of strong arms catch her.

She turned to see who had saved her and found a young looking man with raven hair and dark blue eyes.  
His blue eyes focused on the men in front of them.

"Are you ok?" He asked her.

She nodded and he let go of her.

"Stand behind me and don't leave my back." he told her.

His dark blue eyes eyes met her chocolate ones and she nodded and quickly move to stand behind him.

"We didn't know someone else had spotted the Heartfilia around here..Guess we should have expected others wanting to catch her as well..Who wouldn't want to get the Queens big reward?!" One of the men said with a grin.

Lucy stared at the men in horror.  
Was the man right in front of her also after her?

Even if she doubted her trust to this man she still decided to stay behind him.

The raven haired man chuckled. "I might be after her but that isn't your problem." The raven haired man told the two men before him.

He quickly took out a gun and shot one of the men in the shoulder.

The one holding the gun tried to shoot the raven haired man but even before he had shot the gun the raven haired man was already by his side and had kicked him and taken his gun.

Lucy stood watching in amassment. He had taken two men in seconds. The raven haired man had turned to check on Lucy and started walking towards her.

However, the man in the floor quickly stood back up and took out a knife and stabbed the raven haired man on his back.

Lucy's eyes grew big with worry. Her savior had just gotten injured and she wanted to help him.

She needed to help him.  
He had saved her an now it was her turn to save him.

She didn't want to be alone again..

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter two of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

Chapter 3: I'll Protect You

Gray Fullbuster had always been a calm and very serious man.  
He was a talented shooter who at the age of 10 started to fight to keep himself alive.

He had joined a famous guild, Fairy Tail, where people would gather up to socialize or to get requests.  
This requests were mostly jobs the people at the guild would take to gain money and try to keep themselves alive.  
The jobs weren't always too high paying but they were enough to keep you with enough food.

Fairy Tail was like a Family to Gray.  
After loosing his adopted mother, Ur, at the age of 10 he found Fairy Tail.

However, as the years passed Gray decided to travel on his own.  
He left Fairy Tail and started a journey by himself.

At first he found good jobs that payed good enough.  
Though, as time passed, those jobs weren't enough for Gray.

He wanted to gain more money.

So when he found the request for Lucy Heartfilia he thought it would be an easy job that could gain him the money he wanted.

As days went and he started looking for the Heartfilia he met up with Fairy Tail's Master Makarov.

"It's been a while, Gray." Makarov said as he stood in front of Gray.

"Its only been a few months, old man. What brings you here." Gray told the shorter man.

"An old friend of mine lives around here and I came to visit her..You know she has a young girl living with her..She might be around your age or a little younger..She's worried about her and wants someone to take care of her.." Makarov explained.

Gray raised an eyebrow. He didn't know were the old man was going with this but still kept listening to his explanation.

"She asked me to look for someone who I could trust her with.. I had thought maybe of Erza but she is already busy enough..So I was considering in asking you, Gray."  
Makarov told Gray.

"I'm not willing to act as a babysitter. Someone else at the guild can do that..Besides I'm not part of the guild anymore."Gray said.

He turned around and started to walk away but was stopped by his old masters words.

"Being or not being part of the guild has nothing to do with the trust I have in you.  
I really believe you are a strong young man who can protect this girl. She isn't any girl. She needs a lot of protection. Someone who can keep her safe and alive. I think you are the best for the job." Makarov told Gray.

Gray didn't move from where he was standing and actually considered the old mans request.

He was happy to hear his old master say that he was strong and that he trusted him.

Gray sighed and turned around.

"I'll think about it..I want to know who this girl is and why she needs protection?" Gray said.

As Makarov explained to Gray about the girl Grays eyes grew big.

He had been chasing after that same girl these few days and know he would be protecting her...  
Finding out about her power was what shocked Gray the now understood why the Queen wanted her so badly.

"I'll think about it but I wont promise anything." Gray told Makarov.

"I believe that you can protect her, Gray. You're a wise man and will do what is best to do.." Makarov said as he turned around and started leaving.

"Take good care of Lucy." Makarov said as he turned around and gave Gray one last glance.

Gray stared at the stop Makarov stood seconds ago and chuckled.

He turned around and started walking towards the Kingdoms forest.  
Makarov had told him he would find the girl there.

As he walked around the forest he heard someone yell. It sounded like a man.

Gray focused and heard, "You think you'll be safe up there, girlie!"

Gray got curios and started to go to the direction of the voices.

He finally saw two men standing under a tree looking up.

He followed their gaze and found a blonde girl standing on the tree.

As Gray stared at the girl he realized that she was fairly similar to the descriptions Makarov had given him of Lucy Heartfilia.

"Well I gave you a chance." One of the men told the girl.

Gray saw the gun the man was holding and rushed towards the tree Lucy was standing on.

He soon heard the gun shoot but saw that it hadn't hit Lucy.

Relief ran through him but it didn't last for long.

He saw her falling off the tree.

He quickly rushed towards her and caught her.

He stared at the men in front of him.

"Are you ok?" He asked her. He saw her nod and he let go of her.

"Stand behind me and don't leave my back." he told her.

He wanted her to be safe from what was about to happen.

"We didn't know someone else had spotted the Heartfilia around here..Guess we should have expected others wanting to catch her as well..Who wouldn't want to get the Queens big reward?!" One of the men said with a grin.

Gray stared at them and chuckled. He really didn't care what this men thought his purpose with Lucy where. All he cared about was getting rid of them.

"I might be after her but that isn't your problem." He answered.

He soon had taken them both out and turned to check on Lucy.

Right after he turned around he felt someone stab him in the back.

He felt enormous pain on his back but he had gone through worse.

He quickly turned around and kicked the man.

He sent the man flying towards a nearby tree.  
His back had hit the tree.

Gray walked towards the man and picked him up his collar.

"Don't ever try to hurt Lucy again."Gray told the man.

Grays face had turned darker from anger making chills run down the mans back.

Gray let go of the man.  
As soon as the man fell he quickly stood up and dragged the other men away with him.

Gray turned around looking for Lucy but felt as if he was spinning and fell down.

He soon heard someone rush towards him.

He felt as small hands picked him up and removed the knife.

He yelled in pain as the knife was removed. He had probably been stabbed deeper then he had imagined.

He slowly opened his eyes to find himself resting by a tree. As he looked to his side he found a girl with long blonde hair sitting next to him.

As he stared at her he realized that she was cuter than he had imagined her to be.

"I'm sorry.." He heard her whisper out.

He turned to look at her face and saw her eyes glowing. Golden tears ran down her pink colored cheeks.

Grays eyes widen as he looked at her eyes and tears. She really was different.

Gray chuckled as the girl kept apologizing to him.

"You don't need to apologize. You weren't the one that got me injured." He told her.

Her glowing eyes turned wide as she heard him speak to her.

"But you got injured while protecting me..I hate to have to always be protected by others.." she said as new tears started running down her face.

She started ranting about how people always get hurt while protecting her. How she can't do anything to keep herself safe..

As she kept going he couldn't help stare at her beauty.

The way her long hair would curl on the ends. How her blonde hair would shine when the sun was hitting her. Her pink cheeks that were covered with golden tears. And those beautiful golden eyes.

He was starting to really like this girl.

He placed a hand on her cheek and cleaned all the tears away.

"You need to stop blaming yourself.." He told her.

"But..."

"Stop..It's not you fault. Everyone that has protected you knew what they were getting themselves into..It was there decision to protect you. You'll someday be able to protect yourself but until then I'll protect you." Gray told Lucy.

Lucy blushed at his words.

"Y-You" but before she could start saying something that would annoy Gray he soon took her lips to his.

Her eyes grew big as she felt his lips on hers.

When the kiss ended she saw him smile.

" I'll be protecting you from now on!" He announced with a grin.

As Lucy sat there she had finally realized that he had really kissed her.  
He had taken her first kiss!

Her face turned completely red and she did what any girl would of done if they had their first kiss taken away from a complete stranger.

"Kyaaa!"

Her scream was heard through the entire forest...

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 3 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, favorite, and followed this story! I'm glad you're liking it! ;)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

Chapter 4: New Journey

Lucy's cheeks where still red as she sat in front of the man that had kissed her a couple minutes ago.

"Why did you kiss me?!" Lucy asked with a demanding tone.

Gray sighed and shrugged. "I thought you looked cute and decided to kiss you.." He answered as if it was a simple action.

Lucy blushed. "Y-You don't just kiss a girl because you think shes cute!" Lucy stuttered as she yelled at him.

"You don't?" Gray asked with a confused look.

Lucy glared at him. "Of course not! You have to kiss the person you really like! Not just some random person! I don't even know your name and you have already stolen my first kiss!" Lucy yelled out.

Gray raised an eyebrow as he stared at the girl in front of him. She really had been stuck in this forest for too long if he had been her first kiss.  
Really, a girl like her would of gotten her first kiss by now if she was outside the forest.

However, for some weird reason Gray was actually glad that he had been Lucy's first kiss..

"The name is Gray. Gray Fullbuster at your ser..Uhhh!" He started but wasn't able to finish as he felt incredible pain in his back.

Lucy eyes went wide as she saw him in pain. She rushed towards him and removed his shirt.

She blushed when she saw him without a shirt but quickly reminded herself that she had to focus on healing him.

She placed her hands on his injury and started healing him.

Gray started to feel less pain as she healed him.  
Soon he felt as if nothing had happened.

Lucy bandaged him and soon helped him up.

"Can you walk, Gray?" She asked him.

When he heard her say his name he felt his heart race.  
Was he beginning to really like this girl?  
Impossible! He thought.

"Yeah, I can walk." He answered.

"So how did you learn that healing technique? I haven't really seen any one heal someone with just their hands..and I have surely never seen anyone heal someone as their hands glowed...Is it because of your power?" He asked.

Lucy turned to him and sighed. "P-Porlyusica thought me about it..she's probably the only one that knew about healing..that is if you really haven't seen anyone else do that...And well it doesn't really have to do with my 'power'. The only difference between the way i heal and Porlyusica healed is that my hands glow gold and hers would glow blue..guess that this power really does help me with the healing.." Lucy explained.

She really hadn't thought much about how the power of the 12 keys helped with her healing techniques. She had noticed that she had gotten pretty good at it and was able to heal someone way faster than Porlyusica could.

As she kept thinking about Porlyusica tears started to form in her eyes.  
The women she came to see as a mother had died.  
She was alone...

Gray noticed Lucy crying and like any other boy started to freak out.  
He wasn't good with dealing with crying girls.  
It was his weakness...

"Are you ok, Lucy?" He asked her as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy turned to look at him.  
Her cheeks were filled with tears as she shocked her head.

She wasn't ok. She had lost someone very important..she had left Polyusica all alone at their home. She had to go back.

She started walking towards the direction of her home but someone stopped her by holding her arm.

"You can't go back. Someone might be around waiting for you. It's not safe." Gray told Lucy.

"I have to! The women that has been like a mother to me just died! I can't just leave her body there!" She yelled at Gray with tears running down her cheeks.

"She's all I had! I don't have anything now!" She said as she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

She soon felt strong arms wrap around her.  
She dropped her hands to her sides as she saw Gray hugging her.

"Idiot. Didn't I tell you that I would protect you from now on. You've got me right here. So stop saying that you've got nothing. I won't leave you, Lucy." He told her.

She felt her cheeks head up and soon wrapped her arms around him.

"Please don't leave me, Gray." She whispered.

"Never." Gray whispered back.

Lucy noticed a scar on his forehead and started to trace it with her finger.  
She had noticed many scars on his body when she had healed him.

She would soon ask him about all those scars.

She noticed that he still wasn't wearing a shirt. She blushed a little as she finally noticed that she was hugging a half naked man but yet she didn't intend on ending this hug.  
She noticed a cross shaped necklace hanging on his neck. She grabbed it and started examining it.  
She heard him chuckle.

She looked up to find dark blue eyes looking at her.  
She placed her free hand on his chest and stood on her tippy toes.

She soon gave a him a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you." She told him as the kiss ended.

Gray blushed but smirked and placed his hand on her cheek and she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
Their faces started getting closer.  
Their lips were about to touch when...

"Well it's good to see you two are getting along!" Makarov stood before them with a women standing beside him.  
She wore a long pink dress and had long , beautiful white hair that would curl at the ends.  
She giggled as she saw the young teenagers in front of her.

Gray and Lucy quickly stepped away from each other.  
They both blushed a deep red and turned away from each other.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked them.

Gray tried to act as if nothing had happened but his blushing face wasn't helping at all.

"Master and I just found out about Porlyusica's death and came to get everything ready for her burial.." Mirajane answered him.

Makarov looked away as he heard Mirajane say that Porlyusica had died.  
It was still hard for him to believe it.

Mirajane walked towards Lucy and smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you!" She told her with a big smile.

Lucy looked at her and smiled back.

"My names Mirajane but you can call me Mira." She told Lucy.

"Hi M-Mira..I'm Lucy.." The blonde girl answered.

Mira smiled and handed Lucy a small pink bag.

"Well Lucy, inside that bag theres everything you'll be needing.. Master and I thought it would be necessary for you to have all these things before you leave with Gray." Mira told Lucy.

Lucy opened the bag and found clothing and many other necessary things.

She had a small bag with her that only contained bandages and the 12 keys her mother had given to her.

She tuned to Mira and smiled. "Thank you!" She said.

Mira giggled and gave the girl a small hug. "Please be careful out there." She told her.

For a minute Mira had reminded her of Porlyusica. She had said those same words...

"I will." Lucy told her.

"Don't worry about Porlyusica. I got it all covered, Lucy." Makarov told Lucy.

Lucy looked at the old man and nodded.

"As for you, Gray." The old man said as he turned to Gray. "You better take good care of Lucy."

"I know. I won't leave you down on this." Gray answered.

The older man smiled as he saw the boys determined look.

"Take care brats." He said as he turned around to leave. Mira waved at Lucy and Gray and soon followed the short man.

'Shes in good hands Porlyusica.' Makarov thought as he walked away.

That day was the start of a new journey for Lucy and Gray.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed Chapter 4 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	6. Chapter 5

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, followed, and favorite this story!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

* * *

Chapter 5:Desperate Times

"So how do you know Makarov?" Lucy asked Gray as the walked around the forest.

"He is the master of the guild I used to be in..How about you?" He ask her.

"He used to come visit Porlyusica from time to time..They said they had been friends since they were young.." Lucy told him.

"Gray, what's a guild?" The blonde asked.

Gray turned to look at her and gave out a sigh.

"It's a place were people get together to socialize as well as get requests..They're jobs sent from people from the kingdom.." Gray explained.

Lucy looked at him and for some reason her eyes looked like they were shinning.

"So you are part of Fairy Tail! The place Makarov comes from, right?! He always talked to me about Fairy Tail..He said that it was a wonderful place were people could make long lasting bonds and that everybody was treated like family! I've always wanted to go there...I want to meet more people and make friends..." She said with an excited grin.

Gray turned away from her.

"I'm not part of Fairy Tail anymore. I decided to leave and find jobs on my own. It's been like that for a while..Fairy Tail is a great place and maybe someday we'll both be able to join." He spoke as he walked.

She grinned.

"You'll really be with me for a while,huh?" She said with a small smile as she walked behind him.

"That's what I promised to you." He answered without making an attempt to turn and look at her.

She smiled. She was happy Makarov had chosen Gray as the one that would be protecting her.

Soon they had arrived at a small town near the forest.

Lucy had come out of the forest before but she would only visit some parts of it.  
She had never seen how it was around town.

As they walked around she saw people selling different kind of stuff around the streets.

Women walking around with their children.  
The kids running around and laughing.

Lucy saw a little girl approach her.  
Her long pink hair was tied into pig tails.  
She wore a white dress that looked a little dirty.

She grabbed the bottom of Lucy's short blue dress. She pulled at it to gain the blondes attention.

Lucy looked down to find dark brown eyes looking up at her.

She bent down to be at her height.

The pink haired girl saw Lucy's beautiful golden hair and her small hand went through her hair as she starred at the blondes golden locks.

"You have beautiful hair.." The girl spoke in quite voice.

Lucy smiled and grabbed some pink strands of hair that had fallen out of her pig tails.

"I think your hair is way more beautiful." Lucy told the little girl.

The girls eyes went wide as she blushed.

"It's not beautiful at all.. It's weird to have pink hair. It doesn't even shine as pretty as yours does.." The girl told Lucy.

Lucy giggled as she saw the girl putting her hands in her face in embarrassment.

"I think that your pink hair is beautiful...Someone very special to me used to have the same color hair as you. I always envied the color of her hair since it was so rare.. You should be happy of having such beautiful and unique colored hair." Lucy told the girl with a bright smile.

The girls eyes grew big and her face turned a deep red at Lucy's complement but she soon gave out a soft giggle.

Soon the rest of the little girls friends had made a circle around Lucy.

Gray stood a couple steps away from the group of girls and chuckled.  
The girl was good with kids even though she probably hadn't dealt with many in her life.

"Your girlfriend is really good at entertaining the girls. They are always getting in the way of work around here.." An older women told Gray as she stood next to him seeing the girls play with Lucy's hair.

Gray blushed a little at what the women had said but soon just nodded and smiled.

Gray walked towards the group of girls and pick Lucy up.

"We need to leave.." He told her.

She blushed as she noticed that Gray was caring her bridal style.

"Put me down!" Lucy yelled. Her cheeks had turned into a dark shade of red.

Gray rolled his eyes and quickly put her down.

The little girls rushed toward Lucy and hugged her legs.

"Please don't take her away! Can't she stay for a little longer!" the girls cried to Gray.

Gray crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Sorry girls but we have to leave." He told them.

The pink haired girl walked towards Gray and look up to him.

"Are you her boyfriend?" She asked him as she pointed at Lucy.

Lucy blushed while Gray just chuckled and bent down to the girls height.

"Nah, I'm her protecter. I'm like her knight in shinning armor!" He said with a huge grin.

Lucy blushed even more when he said that while the girls just looked at him in amazement.

"Wow thats awesome! I want to have a knight as well!" The pink haired girl exclaimed.

Gray gave her head a small pat and stood up.

"You'll soon find your knight, you just wait." He said. He grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her away from the girls.

Lucy waved at them as they started walking away.

"Be good and take good care of your beautiful hair!" Lucy yelled at there direction.

The pink haired girl waved back and smiled.

"I will! Let's meet again soon!" She yelled back.

Lucy nodded and gave her one last smile before turning around.

"I didn't know you were good with kids." Gary told her with a smirk.

"Me either.." Lucy responded.

She looked down and saw that their interwind hands.  
She smiled and looked up at Gray.

"So you're my knight?" She asked with a childish smile.

"Could be." Gray said as he blushed.

Lucy giggled.

As they walked around town Lucy saw men running around with masks and purses on their hands.

"Why are their faces covered?" Lucy asked.

"They've probably stolen something from someone." Gary answered.

Lucy's eyes went wide.

"How can you say that like it's nothing! We need to stop them!" Lucy yelled.

Gray sighed, "Look Lucy, around here it's normal to see robbers..At least it doesn't look like the killed anybody.." He told her.

"Killed.." She whispered out.

"Yeah, people around here kill and steal from others to survive. Theres not much we can do than that to survive.." Gray explained.

"We? you've killed people and stolen from others before?" Lucy asked him with a shocked expression.

"Not from around town but actually around the Kingdom. All these jobs I've taken are requests from rich people from the Kingdom that want someone dead. I only have to do as they say and I get quite some money from them.." Gray told her.

"Killing is your job?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, you could say that. I know it must be hard for you to understand since you don't know how hard things are for the people outside the Kingdom.  
We are all fighting to stay alive. Desperate times call for desperate measures..  
You have to either kill or you'll get killed sooner or later.." Gray explained.

Lucy only nodded.  
It was shocking to hear how people acted to survive but if there really wasn't another way to survive she could never blame Gray for his actions.

They soon heard people screaming from where they where minutes ago.

Shots were soon heard and Gray quickly pulled Lucy and they started running away.

"What's going on!" Lucy yelled.

"I guess someone is using a harsher way to steal. We have to get away from here." Gray answered.

"That little girl shes over there we have to-"

"I can't afford to put you in danger." Gray said before she could finish her sentence.

They found a motorcycle near by and Gray got on it and started to run the engine.

"We can't just take this! It's not ours!" Lucy exclaimed.

"We have to leave and this is the fastest way of getting away from here!" Gray told her.

"I can't ride that..I'm wearing a dress.." She said looking down with a faint blush.

"Just get on it.." He yelled.

She moved towards the bike and got on it.

As soon as it started running she quickly wrapped her arms around him.

She buried her face in his back.

As they left town in the stolen motorcycle, Lucy could only hope that the little pink haired girl would be safe.

Gray's words kept replaying in her head that entire day..

"Desperate times call for desperate measures.."

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 5 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that has favorite, followed, and reviewed this story! I'm glad you're liking it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Kill** **or Get Killed**

Wind blew in her face as she sat behind Gray in the motorcycle.

She felt scared but at the same time loved the feeling of riding the bike.

She stared with amazement as they passed by different areas.  
They had gone through a little town and she got to see women dancing in the streets for money. Men singing and playing to a guitar as the women danced.

Lucy wanted to stay and watch more but Gray said they needed to leave.

They were heading to Magnolia.

As night drew in, Lucy rested her head on Gray's back.

"Why are we heading to Magnolia?" She asked.

"Its safer over there. It's good place to stay for maybe a few nights."

Lucy sighed. "Just a few nights.." She thought.

Gray stopped at a nearby town and decided to camp by the towns forest.

He laid down in the grass and closed his eyes.

Lucy sat down beside him. She looked up at the stars and then at Gray.

The way the moons light reflected on him made him look so peaceful and he looked like a younger boy.

He looked cute.

Her cheeks blushed in embarrassment as she realized what she had thought.

"Gray.."

"Hm?" Gray opened an eye and looked up at Lucy.

"Thanks for being with me." Her cheeks were tinted pink as she smiled.

Gray closed his eyes again and chuckled.

"No problem Lucy."

She saw him lay on his side.

She laid down. She turned to her side and stared at him.

Her eyes looked up to stare at the scar on his forehead.

She traced the scar with her finger. Her eyes went wide as she saw him move a little. She quickly removed her finger.

His eyes were still closed which meant he probably hadn't seen her touching his forehead.  
She let out a sighed.

She turned around and shivered.

It was really cold outside and she was only wearing a small blue dress.

She rubbed her arms trying to get herself warm but was failing at it.

She curled up into a ball and tried to fall asleep.

She shivered as cold air blew. Her teeth chattered.

As sleep started taking over her she felt something warm cover her.

She opened her eyes and found a white coat covering her.

She stood up a bit and saw Gray laying back down. He only wore his black undershirt.

"You were cold, right?"

She blushed and nodded.

"Thanks" She smiled and held the coat closer to her.

He only nodded and tried to go back to sleep.

Both laid down in the grass trying to sleep when shots were heard around the forest.

Gray rushed up while Lucy sat up and held the white coat near her chest.

"What's going on." Lucy whispered. She was trembling in fear.

"I'm not sure.. I'm gonna go check it out. Stay here. Go hide behind a tree." He ordered

She nodded.

"Be careful.."

He grinned, "Don't worry about me. Take care of yourself." and with that he disappeared into the darkness.

Lucy went to hide behind a tree.

She rested her back on the tree and prayed nothing bad would happen to Gray.

She placed Gray's coat around her shoulders.

She sat down and covered herself with the coat.

Just when her eyes had closed she heard shots near by.

She quickly stood up and peeked her head behind the tree.

It was dark so she couldn't see anything but she could hear footsteps coming her way.

She held her breath and hide behind the tree.

"Lucy..?"

She turned around to find Gray standing beside her.

A wide smile appeared in her face. She rushed towards Gray and hugged him.

"I'm so happy you're ok.." She whispered.

She looked down and saw blood on his torso.

Her eyes grew big when she noticed he had gotten shot.

"I need to heal that.."She told him.

"Not right now.. We have to get away from here. There were about four men and I only got rid of two. I injured one and theres still one more around the forest. I guess they saw you and recognized you.. We need to get away from here." Gray pulled Lucy and started rushing away from the tree.

Lucy grabbed Gray's hand tightly, scared that either of them would get injured.

They ran through the forest, trying to get away, but they soon heard footsteps behind them.

Lucy turned around to see a man chasing after them.

"Gray.. He's following us!"

Gray turned around and cursed.

He stopped and pushed Lucy towards a tree.

"Hide there!"

Gray took out his gun and shot towards the man.

The bullet had hit the man shoulder.

Gray tried again as he saw the man keep running towards them.

He shot towards his leg making the man fall.

He tried shooting again but nothing came out. He had run out of bullets.

As Gray struggled with the gun the man in the floor took out his gun and pointed it towards Gray.

"Gray!" Lucy yelled.

A shot was heard throughout the forest.

Lucy's eyes had closed when she heard the gun shot.

She quickly opened them and found the man that was following them dead in the ground.

She looked at Gray shocked and found him looking at her the same.

Lucy heard someone walking towards them. She turned around to find a man with bluish silver hair.

"Lyon!?" Gray exclaimed.

"It's been a while, Gray.." Lyon said with a smirk. He held a gun in his hand and Lucy guessed he had been the one to take out the man.

Lucy realized that both Gray and Lyon had killed men that night. Like Gray had said before, around here you really have to kill or you'll be killed.

"Kill or get Killed.." Lucy thought to herself.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 6 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~ IceKeys121


	8. Chapter 7

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, followed, an favorite this story!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Childhood Friends **

Ur found Gray at the age of eight. Grays parents had been killed when his town was burned down to ashes. He had been one of the phew to survive.

Ashes filled his home. He sat next to his mothers dead body. Tears falling down his messy cheeks. He didn't want to leave his mother.

Someone had picked him up and took him away from his mother. He screamed, kicked, and yelled. He wanted to stay. He wanted to be with his mother.

"Calm down!" A women with short raven hair was caring him.

She placed him in the ground and sighed.

"You need to calm down. I know it must be hard to loose your parents but you're still alive and you can't stay here. This place was burned down by the kingdom and I'm sure they won't be too happy to see you wanting to stay in a land they obviously want to use." The women explained.

"Why would they kill everyone?" Gray still spilling out his dark blue eyes.

"Unfortunately we have a sick King who doesn't care about the people from the kingdom. Whatever stands in his way he'll just destroy and that includes people."

The women knelt down to Gray's height and stroked his raven hair.

"I'll take care of you from today on.. My name is Ur. What's yours?" Ur asked.

Gray looked up and mumbled, "Gray."

She smiled and stood up.

"We'll Gray we should get going." She started walking away and Gray followed.

They arrived to a small house located by the mountains.

Snow covered the house. Gray shivered from the cold. Once they entered a boy with bluish silver hair welcomed Ur back.

When he saw Gray a smile appeared on his face.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Lyon!" He placed his hand out to Gray and the raven hair boy hesitantly shook his hand.

They soon became friends and Ur's pupils.

She trained them and thought them how to shoot.

Lyon was really good at it. He had quite the talent. He was great at long distance shots.

He became someone Gray looked up at and wanted to succeed.

Lyon was the older pupil and had known Ur for a year. His mother had died of sickness and Ur had taken Lyon in.

When Gray turned 9 he was already as good as Lyon.

They both would practice together and became close friends.

Every morning they would both go to a nearby town.

Sometimes Ur would go with them but when she had to go work they would go by themselves.

They would sometimes spend the whole day in town.

They walked around the small town filled with snow.

Gray was now accustomed to the cold and with Ur's training he could now walk around the snow naked and he wouldn't even feel it.

Lyon and Gray sat down at a bench and ate their food.

Lyon noticed a blue haired girl staring at them.

She stood near a building and hugged a white, ghost like, doll.

"Gray, that little girl is looking our way." Lyon told Gray in a low voice.

Gray looked towards the girls direction. He shrugged it off.

"I don't care." He mumbled and kept eating his sandwich.

Lyon grunted and stood up.

"I'm gonna go talk to her." He told him and walked towards the little girl.

Gray stared as the girl and Lyon talked. The girl at first looked scared but later he saw her blushing and laughing at stuff Lyon would say. Lyon didn't look too different then that. He blushed every time the girl would just look at him.

Gray sighed and returned his attention to his food.

"New crush, huh?" Ur sat next to Gray wearing a grin as she stared at Lyon.

Gray looked up with a smile.

"You're back already. Was the job simple?" Gray asked.

"Yeah. I also tried to finish it as fast as I could. I don't like leaving you two alone for too long." Ur explained.

Gray nodded.

"So did he just meet this girl?" Ur asked.

"Yeah. He saw her staring at us and he went to talk to her." Gray answered.

"She's cute. How 'bout you Gray? Don't like any girl around here?" Ur asked with a smirk.

She gave Gray a playful shove with her elbow.

Gray rolled his eyes.

"I'm not interested in anybody" he mumbled.

Ur chuckled. "You're so boring. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what type of girl you fall for. She's probably gonna be a beauty." Ur smiled and ruffled Gray's hair.

She stood up and yelled towards Lyon, " Let us meet her, Lyon!"

Lyon blushed and Gray couldn't help and laugh.

He was happy he didn't like anybody. He didn't want to deal with Ur's teasing.

Lyon and the blue haired girl walked towards them.

She bowed her head as she introduce herself.

"Juvia is happy to meet you." She said.

Gray raised an eyebrow. She referred to herself as she spoke ?

Ur smiled sweetly at the girl.

"Nice to meet you Juvia. I'm Ur." She dragged Gray over to stand next to her." And this is Gray."

Juvia smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ur-San, Gray-San."

"Ur, she doesn't have anywhere to go. Her parents passed away and she doesn't have anywhere to live..could she maybe come live with us?" Lyon asked. He wore a nervous look but soon it was changed when he heard Ur's answer.

"Of course." Ur smiled. "It'll be nice to have a girl around the house."

Lyon cheered in happiness and Juvia got teary and kept thanking Ur.

Gray sighed and started walking away.

He soon became close friends with the girl.

At many times Lyon would tell him to not even think about stealing " his girl" which Gray would only smirk and ask, "So she's your girl? When did you two get together?"

Lyon would blush and mumble that it was still in progress but that he would surely make Juvia fall for him.

Another year passed and Ur and her three pupils progressed in their training.

Juvia showed to be a very good shooter.

She had also showed to be a great cook.

She would cook for them every day.

Gray's life seemed to be going fine. He liked leaving with these people. They were his new family and he really liked being with them.

However, their happiness didn't last forever.

The town near by was being attacked and Ur had gone to help people evacuate. The same thing that happened to Grays town was about to happen.

The kingdoms army would burn down the town. Destroy everything that stood in their way.

Gray didn't want her to go. He didn't want to lose her.

Before she left she gave him a smile and patted his head.

"I can't just stand around and see innocent people die. I prefer giving my life to save others then regret not being of any help to people who don't deserve to die."

Gray felt tears run down his face. He didn't want her to leave.

"Don't leave us." He whispered as he gave her a hug and shoved his face in her stomach.

"Please take care of them, Gray. Take care of yourself. Become stronger and don't let anybody end your chances of living. Find a nice girl to spend the rest of your life with. I might not be able to meet her but I know she'll be a beauty. Please take care, Gray." She told him as she hugged him back.

Lyon and Juvia stood inside their house. They didn't really know what was going on. They just thought Ur was going to one of her normal jobs.

Gray let go of Ur and cleaned his tears.

"Please come back, Ur." He whispered as she started walking away.

She turned around and gave him one last grin, "I'll try my best but I can't promise anything."

She waved at him and left.

The next day they found out that Ur had died in the fire.

However, she was a hero. She had saved many people.

Gray told Lyon and Juvia that he had tried to stop her but he couldn't.

"You knew?!" Lyon angrily yelled as he pulled Gray close to him by the collar of his shirt.

"Yes..I figured she wasn't going to one of her normal jobs and she told me she would try and save the people but I tried to stop her...I couldn't do anything..I'm so sorry." Tears ran down his face as Lyon let go of his shirt and Gray dropped to the ground with tears covering his face.

Juvia hugged Lyon as she cried.

That night the three pupils cried all day for Ur's death.

The next morning Gray got up and made his bags.

He would leave and find a guild.

A place were he could get requests and make money.

"Were are you going, Gray-San?" Juvia asked.

Her eyes were still red of all the crying.

"I'm leaving to find a guild." Gray answered without looking at her.

"What?! You can't just go like that! Juvia and Lyon will miss you...you can't leave like that..." Juvia's eyes got watery and new tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Sorry but I want to start new from today. Please don't leave Lyon, Juvia. Take care of him and of yourself." Gray told her as he opened the door.

Juvia gave him a small nod as she cried.

That was the last time he saw them.

After months of traveling by himself, the ten year old Gray found Fairy Tail. The guild that would become his new home for the next eight years...

~PRESENT TIME~

"Lyon!?" Gray exclaimed.

"It's been a while, Gray." Lyon said with a smirk.

A gun held tightly in his hand. He placed it on his belt and walked towards were Gray stood.

Lucy rushed towards Gray who now sat on the floor. His breathing getting hard and he was sweating from the burning feeling of the bullet that had been shot through his torso.

Lucy laid Gray down and started healing him.

Lyon knelt beside Gray and stared at Lucy as she healed him.

"Will he get better soon?" He asked the blonde.

Lucy turned to look at the bluish silver haired man that Gray had called Lyon. His worried expression made Lucy believe he truly was worried and she smiled and nodded.

"He'll be just fine in a few hours." She told him.

She took out the bullet and Gray let out a painful yell.

She cleaned the blood and healed the bruises. She took out a band and wrapped it around his torso.

Gray sat up. He looked over at Lucy and thanked her.

Lucy blushed a little and told him it wasn't a big deal.

He turned to look at Lyon, who now stood up.

"It really has been a long time, Lyon." He said as he stared at his old friend.

He looked way older and taller.

Lyon let out a laugh.

"It really has.. Who would of thought we would meet again after so long.. And the best part is that I got to save your butt just a few minuets ago. Great way of starting our reunion." He said with a smirk.

Gray rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling.

"Is Juvia still with you?" Gray asked.

Lyon smiled and nodded. "Yeah. She's waiting at home. We're actually dating.." He said with a blush covering his cheeks.

Gray smiled. "She's finally you're girl." He said with a smirk.

"Guess so." Lyon said as he rubbed his neck.

"What are you doing around here?" Gray asked.

"Just came back from a job. I walk through here to get home. I live in the town near here." He answered.

Gray nodded.

"You two should come over to my house and maybe stay for a while.. Juvia would love to see you again, Gray.." Lyon suggested.

Gray sighed and tried standing.

Lucy stood up and helped Gray up.

He wrapped and arm around her shoulder to try and not fall.

Lucy held his arm as she helped him stand.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Lyon asked with a smirk.

Lucy blushed a deep red.

"No..I'm just protecting her.. " Gray said as he looked away.

"Protecting her? Wait was that man that was trying to shoot you after her?" Lyon asked.

Gray sighed. "Yeah she's Lucy Heartfilia." Gray told him.

Lyon's eyes went wide. "Must be hard protecting the most wanted girl in the whole kingdom.." Lyon said with a small chuckle.

"It is." Gray answered with a small smile.

Lucy pouted and looked away. Gray saw this and pulled her closer to him.

"But it's worth it." He said.

Lucy looked at him with wide eyes. A blush making its way on her cheeks as she stared at him.

Lyon smirked and shook his head.

"You two should just start dating.." He told them.

Lucy blushed and Gray glared at him.

Lyon chuckled.

"Well it's a pleasure meeting you Lucy." He told her.

Lucy smiled. "The same Lyon." Lucy told him.

"So are you going to come meet Juvia?" Lyon asked Gray.

"I guess.." Gray answered.

"Great. Lets start heading over." Lyon started walking away and Lucy and Gray followed him.

Gray looked over at Lucy and smiled.

"She really is a beauty, Ur." Gray thought to himself.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 7 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	9. Chapter 8

Authors note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, favorite, and followed this story! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

* * *

Chapter 8: Makeover and New Friends

"Well this is my home.." Lyon told Gray and Lucy as he opened the door to a small house in town.

The place was small but it looked just right for just two people.

Lucy walked inside and saw a small living room with white and blue furniture.

"Lyon! You're back early!" A women with blue wavy hair that reached her shoulders came running from the kitchen towards Lyon.

She wore a lovingly smile as she ran and hugged Lyon.

"Yeah the job was quite easy..." Lyon told her.

Gray stood by the living room with Lucy rubbing his neck.

"Um.." He started trying to get the couples attention.

They both turned around and Juvia's eyes went wide.

"Gray?!" She exclaimed.

She looked up at Lyon with a shocked expression. Lyon smiled at her and gave her a small shrug.

"It's nice to see you again, Juvia." Gray spoked as he walked towards her.

Her eyes started getting watery and her hands went to her mouth trying to stop the sobs from coming.

"I thought we would never be able to see you again..." She whispered as she gave him a hug.

Gray was shocked at first from the hug but soon smiled and patted her head.

Lucy stood in the living room and tried to look at anything but them. Jealousy was burning inside of her but she was trying her best to deny it to herself.

'Their just friends, Lucy, nothing more...' She thought to herself.

'Why am I even feeling like this!' She yelled in her head, frustrated on her confused feelings.

Juvia broke the hug and looked up at Lyon.

"Where did you two meet at?" She asked.

"I found them in the forest while I was coming home. I actually saved his life.. If it wasn't for me who knows if he would even be alive right now.." Lyon smirked.

Gray murmured something, which was probably him just cursing Lyon, and Juvia looked up a Lyon confused.

"Them?" Lyon nodded and pointed towards Lucy's direction at the living room.

"Yep. Both of them were in the forest. A couple of men were chasing them. That's why they'll be staying here for a while." Lyon explained.

"Just one night.." Gray corrected.

Lyon raised an eyebrow at this.

"You could stay a couple more nights..." He told Gray.

"A night is more than enough. I don't want you guys getting involved in this. I don't want either of you getting hurt or put in danger. It's better if Lucy and I leave tomorrow.." Gray walked over to Lucy and pulled her over to we're the others stood.

"We'll if that's what you want..." Lyon sighed and walked over to the kitchen.

Juvia stared at the blonde girl with curious eyes.

"This is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia. I'm protecting her.." Gray told Juvia.

Juvia's eyes grew big.

"Lucy Heartfilia... So that's why you can't stay for long.. So you two were being chased after men wanting to kidnap Lucy and take her to the Queen?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah." Gray answered with a sigh.

He turned to look at the kitchen and saw Lyon putting the table together.

"I'll go help him.." He told the girls and walked towards the kitchen.

Juvia smiled kindly towards Lucy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lucy- San. I'm Juvia." The blue haired women told Lucy with a sweet smile.

Lucy smiled back.

"The pleasure is all mine. It's nice to get to meet Grays friends. And you can call me Lucy, just Lucy.." The blonde answered.

Juvia smiled and nodded.

"Alright, Lucy."

"So how long have you known Gray?" Juvia asked.

"Just for a few days. Ever since men started chasing after me.."

"Must be hard having to move around from place to place. I've seen so many requests for your capture around town. Your name is known everywhere." Juvia told Lucy.

"Guess it is..." Lucy answered with a small laugh.

They both started walking towards the kitchen. The guys had finished placing the table and Juvia started to serve the plates.

"You two probably haven't eaten anything,huh?" Juvia asked.

Gray and Lucy shook their heads.

"Nope, and I'm starving! I've actually missed your cooking all this years. You got pretty good at it when we were little." Gray told Juvia.

She blushed at his compliment and giggled.

"She's only gotten better." Lyon told Gray.

"Really?! Then I can't wait to eat!" Gray exclaimed with a grin.

Lucy and Juvia took the plates to the table and the four of them started eating.

Once they were all done they all cleaned the table. The girls left to rinse the dishes while the boys stayed back in the table.

"That was delicious!" Gray leaned back on the chair and patted his stomach.

"I told you she had gotten better.." Lyon said.

"She really did."

In the kitchen Lucy helped Juvia put the dishes away while she rinsed them.

Once they were done they walked back to the dinning table and sat back down.

Lucy sat beside Gray and Juvia took the seat next Lyon.

"So how did you end up being her protector." Lyon asked Gray.

"My old guild master asked me to protect her." Gray answered.

"Old?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah. I used to be part of Fairy Tail but decide to leave and find my own requests. Higher paying ones... Master Makorov came looking for me and asked me to protect Lucy. Something about trusting me for this job, he said. And well, I decided to take it." Gray explained.

"Guess your master trusts you a lot. Having only one man take care of a girl that is being searched for throughout the entire Kingdom doesn't sound easy to me." Lyon said.

"It's not too hard. Just that as much as we try hiding and running into different towns or even in the forest, people keep finding us. They keep recognizing Lucy." Gray sighed.

"Maybe it's because of the requests... All of them have a description of what Lucy looks like. Yesterday new requests were placed around town with the description. Maybe she should have a makeover!" Juvia exclaimed.

Gray furrowed his eyebrows together as he thought about it.

"It's not such a bad idea. If that's the reason people are recognizing Lucy then it would be useful to change the way she looks. What do you think Lucy?" Gray asked the blonde that sat quietly next to him.

"If it'll get us in less trouble then I'm up for it." She answered.

"Ok! So it's been decided! Tomorrow morning I'll do the makeover! Lets go to my room to start seeing which clothes you would like to have..come on!" Juvia got up and pulled Lucy away into the bedroom.

"It's good to see Juvia getting along with others. I noticed she also doesn't talk in third person anymore." Gray commented.

"After you left she started changing little by little. It was hard to leave her old habit of speaking in third person but she was able to do it. She loves making new friends. I think you'll have to bring Lucy around more often. She seems to like her." Lyon told Gray.

"I guess. Lucy also told me she wanted to make friends.. I want to take her to Fairy Tail. It's a good place and it had a lot of nice people. She'll make a lot of friends there for sure.. Why don't you two join?" Gray asked.

"We're both part of a guild already.. Lamia Scale."

"Really? I've heard of that guild from master.. It's good to know you two are in a guild.."

"Yeah.. You should go back to Fairy Tail... It's better to be in a guild then alone." Lyon suggested.

"I'm not alone anymore.. I have Lucy. I am considering in going back, though. Just not yet.." Gray said.

Lyon shook his head and smirked.

"So Gray has finally found a girl, huh? When are you going to confess?" Lyon teased.

"Shut up!" Gray yelled as he glared at the man in front of him, a blush forming on his cheeks.

Lyon bursted in laughter. "Your so obvious! You're even blushing! Gray Fullbuster is blushing!" Lyon yelled as he laughed.

"Dammit! Shut up Lyon! I don't see her like that!" Gray yelled.

"Don't deny it!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are "

"No I'm not!"

"Oh come on, Gray! I don't remember ever seeing you blush over a girl! Or even worry so much about one! You care for that girl more than you ever did for Juvia and, dare I say it, for Ur! I know how you feel that's how I feel for Juvia. We're friends, right? You can tell me anything.." Lyon said with a serious face.

Gray looked away from Lyon. A blush making its way on his cheeks.

"I feel different when I'm around her but that's it.." He mumbled.

"That called love." Lyon sang.

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

And so the two morons started another argument.

A few hours later Juvia and Lucy had set up the beds and all of them went to have some deserved sleep.

* * *

The next morning Juvia had pulled Lucy up form bed early and started with the makeover.

Gray waited in the living room with Lyon. Juvia had prohibited him from entering the room. He would have to wait and see Lucy until she was completely finished.

"Are you sure, Lucy?" Juvia asked the blonde girl.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It can grow back later. It's more important to not get recognized so much. I don't like seeing Gray get hurt and if this is going to prevent that from happening as much then Its worth it." Lucy answered.

"Alright. Here it goes then."

Long blonde curls dropped to the ground with each cut from the scissors.

A few hours later Juvia walked out the room with Lucy hiding behind her.

Gray stood up anxious to see how Lucy looked.

"Come on, Lucy, let them see you." Juvia told the blonde.

Slowly Lucy walked from behind Juvia and walked towards the living room were Gray and Lyon stood at.

Grays eyes went wide. "You're hair..." He whispered.

Lucy looked up to stare at him as she stood before him.

"The requests described a girl with long hair.." Lucy said.

Her blonde hair reached only to her shoulders now. They curled at the bottom. She wore a light blue dress with a white bow tied on the back and long black boots with a small hill.

"You look really pretty." Gray told her.

Lucy looked up at Gray, a deep blush covering her face.

"Of course she does!" Juvia exclaimed as she came to stand next to the blonde.

"She looks like a doll! I think short hair suits you even more than long hair. Right, Gray?" Juvia turned to Gray and he smiled.

"Yeah it really does. It makes you look cuter." He told her.

"So obvious." Lyon said in between coughs.

Gray turned around and sent him a glare.

"I guess we should start leaving." Gray told them.

"Why so soon!?" Juvia asked.

"It's better if we leave. I don't want to be in one place for too long. Besides we were already seen at the forest near here. They're might still be other people around here looking for Lucy.. It's better for us to leave as soon as possible." Gray explained.

Juvia opened her mouth to try and argue for them to stay a bit longer but was stopped by Lyon.

"Gray's right. They were seen at the forest and there could be others around here looking for Lucy. It's best that they leave before they are noticed or recognized by anyone." Lyon told Juvia.

Juvia sighed and nodded. "Well if its for the best..."

She tuned to look at Gray.

"You two need to come back to see us again! No matter what!" She told him.

Gray laughed and nodded. "Of course."

Juvia turned to Lucy and hugged her.

"Take care.." She whispered.

"I will.." Lucy answered. "Thanks for the makeover."

"Your welcome! That's what friends are for." Juvia told Lucy with a big smile.

Lucy blushed. They were friends.. She had actually made a friend!

A huge smile formed on her face. She giggled and nodded at what Juvia had said.

Gray smiled at the scene. He remembered when Lucy had told him about wanting to make friends. He was glad that dream was becoming a reality for her.

Lyon walked over to him and gave him pat in the back.

"Don't loose her. Confess before someone else comes to her life. This girl might just be the one." Lyon told Gray.

Gray sighed. "Your never going to leave me alone are you?"

"Not a chance. But I meant what I said." Lyon said.

"Yeah, I know...I can promise you one thing. I won't let anyone take her away from me." Grays eyes darkened at just the thought of some other guy taking her away from him. He would never let that happen.

"How many times do I have to say that you are SO obvious." Lyon said with a smirk.

Gray threw a punch on his head.

"Shut up!"

Gray and Lucy walked outside the small house. Lyon and Juvia stood at the door waving goodbye.

"Take care and come back soon!" Juvia yelled. As they walked away.

Lucy turned around and smiled. "We will! Take care as well!" She yelled back.

Juvia stared as her friends disappeared into town.

"They'll be fine don't worry.." Lyon assured his blue haired girlfriend.

"I hope so." She whispered.

As they walked around town, Lucy checked her bag.

She noticed the 12 golden keys in the small pouch her mother had given them to her in. She really wanted to learn more about their power and why the Queen was so determined to have it.

"Gray can we stop at a nearby Library?" She asked.

Gray looked down at the blonde with a questionable face.

"I want to get a book.." Lucy quickly told him.

"Sure.." He said. He took her hand and guided her to a nearby Library.

'I need to find out about their power. The more I know about it the closer I am to being able to control it.' Lucy thought to herself.

A few steps behind them a short girl with short blue hair and a tall man with long black hair stared at the couple in front of them.

"Isn't that Gray?" The short girl asked.

"It looks like it.. Guess that's the girl master asked for him to protect.. Hey shorty, were the hell do you think you're going?!" He yelled as he saw the short girl follow the couple.

"I want to meet her!" The petite girl exclaimed with a grin.

"Geez women! You can meet her later!"

"Stop being so unsociable. Come on! Will loose them!" The girl yelled as she pulled the taller man after the couple.

Lucy would soon meet new friends.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 8 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	10. Chapter 9

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, favorite and followed this story! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail! Hiro Mashima does!

**Chapter 9:** **The 12 Golden Keys**

* * *

"What kind of books are you looking for?" Gray asked Lucy as they walked around the library.

"I want to see if they have any books that explain the power of the 12 golden keys." Lucy answered as she looked through some of the book shelves.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to learn to control it?" He asked.

"I already know how to control the effects it has on my body but I don't know how to actually control its power. Maybe if I learn to control its power it could come in handy when we get into trouble."

Gray sighed and started looking through shelves.

"Why are we hiding? We could just walk up to them.. Didn't you say you wanted to meet her?" Someone whispered.

Lucy turned to look at Gray and he stared back at her. They both looked around.

They had heard a whisper and soon they heard someone shush the person.

"They might hear us!" A women's voice was heard.

Lucy walked to the other side of the shelves and found a blue haired girl and black haired man peeking through a crack in the shelves.

The short girl turned to look at Lucy and quickly stood away from the shelves.  
The man turned to look at Lucy and sighed.

"See? I knew we would end up getting caught." He told the small girl.

She looked away pouting. "It was because you were talking too much." She mumbled.

"Gajeel? Levy?" Gray walked up to stand next to Lucy looking surprised.

"Hey Gray!" Levy greeted.

"It's been a while, huh?" Gajeel told him.

Gray smiled. "It has.. How is everyone doing?"

"Everyone's doing fine. We all miss you." Levy told him.

"Yeah.. I miss everyone as well.. So why are you guys here?" Gray asked.

"Shorty saw you guys walking towards the library and wanted to come and meet you." Gajeel answered looking at Lucy when he finished talking.

Levy walked towards Lucy and smiled. "Hi Lucy! I'm Levy. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Lucy smiled back. "It's nice meeting you as well."

"And this is Gajeel!" Levy told Lucy as she pulled Gajeel over to Lucy.

"Don't pull me, shorty!" Gajeel exclaimed.

"Shorty?" Asked Lucy.

Levy giggled. "He likes giving people weird nicknames instead of calling them by their name. " She told the blonde.

Gajeel grumbled and looked over at Lucy. "Nice to meet you, bunny girl."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at what he called her. Levy looked surprised at the nickname Gajeel had chosen for Lucy and Gray ended up laughing at the nickname.

"Why you call her bunny girl?!" Levy asked Gajeel.

"Don't know.. It suits her, I guess. She kind of reminds me of a bunny." Gajeel said as he shrugged.

"You're a serious case, Gajeel." Levy said as she shook her head and place a hand on her forehead.

Gajeel glared at her. "I'm not!"

"So how do you guys know each other?" Lucy asked Gray.

"They are part of Fairy Tail." He answered.

"Yep, we are part of the guild Fairy Tail! See this stamp." Levy said as she pointed at the black Fairy Tail stamp just below Gajeel's shoulder. "That means were in the guild!" she said with a grin.

Lucy looked amazed at this. "Awesome.." She whispered.

"So what were you guys looking for?" Levy asked.

"I want to find a book on the 12 golden keys." Lucy answered.

"The Zodiac Keys? I'll help you look for a book!" Levy exclaimed and pulled Lucy away to start looking for books.

"Did the master tell the whole guild about Lucy?" Gray asked Gajeel.

"Yeah. He told us we couldn't complete the request the Queen had sent. He said Fairy Tail would be protecting Lucy Heartfilia from getting captured. He also told us that you were with her and that he had chosen you as her protector. The old man wants you to come to the guild with Bunny Girl. She'll be safe at Fairy Tail. He's planning on sending Titania or Salamander to come looking for you. You should just leave with us today.." Gajeel told Gray.

Gray sighed. "It be better to leave with you then be forced to leave by Erza or Natsu.. I guess it's not a bad idea to go to Fairy Tail.. Lucy wants to join any ways. If she'll be safe there then I guess will join."

Gajeel grinned and gave Gray slap on the back. "Everyone will be glad to see you."

"We found a book!"Levy exclaimed as she came running towards Gajeel and Gray.

She was pulling Lucy with her as she ran over. The blonde held the book close to her chest.

"So what does it say?" Gray asked as the four of them sat on a table.

Levy read the whole book and was now trying to organize all the details in her head. Lucy was looking over the book now, however she wasn't understanding much of it.

"Do you have the keys?" Levy asked Lucy.

The blonde looked up and nodded. She took out her pouch of keys and placed it on the table.

Levy grabbed the pouch and opened it. She looked amazed as she looked at each one of the keys.

"The book says that you can emit the power from the keys. Since their actual power is inside of you, your body can emit that power. You just need to concentrate and let it out.." Levy explained.

"Gajeel is there a secluded area around here?" Levy asked.

"The forest is near by..."He told her.

Levy nodded and stood up. She purchased the book and walked over to the table.

"Let's head to the forest." She told them.

"Why?" Asked Gray.

"So I can see Lucy try and emit the power. Also theres a theory I have that I want Lucy to try." she answered.

They all followed her and once they arrived to the forest she pulled Lucy towards her.

"You two guard the area. It be bad if someone sees her." Levy told Gray and Gajeel.

They both nodded.

Levy took out the 12 keys out of the pouch.

"Lucy don't move from were your standing." She told the blonde.

Lucy nodded. Levy started placing the keys around Lucy.  
Once she was done the 12 keys laid around Lucy forming a circle.

"Lucy try and emit the power."

Lucy opened her arms wide and tried letting her power out. She had done this before while she practiced to become a healer.

Slowly her hands started to glow and soon her arms as well.

"Don't loose concentration Lucy."Levy whispered.

Lucy nodded and kept letting the power out.

Her whole body was glowing. She opened her eyes and Levy stood with shock and amazement.

Lucy's golden eyes caught Gray's sight and she smiled.

"Try and send that power to the keys." Levy said.

Slowly the golden glow went around the keys. They all started glowing and one by one started to rise from the ground. All 12 keys flowed around Lucy. All of them glowing a bright gold.

Lucy's eyes were shot tightly. She was trying her best to not loose concentration.

"Could you make them move?" Levy suggested.

Lucy bit her lip as she tried doing as Levy said. However, just trying was making her tired. The keys started to move a little but just as they started moving the glow disappeared and they all fell to the ground. Lucy falling with them.

She was breathing hard and was extremely tired.

Gray rushed towards her and knelt beside her.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. It just took a lot of effort to emit the power to the keys." She answered breathing hard as she spoke.

"That was awesome!" Levy exclaimed as she stood in from of Lucy.

"That really was something." Gajeel commented standing next to Levy.

Lucy looked up at them and smiled.

"Maybe you could send your power to weapons." Levy thought out loud.

"Weapons?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, like swords." Levy said.

A short sword held on her belt. She took it off and stared at it.

"Maybe when you regain energy we could try it out on this." She suggested as she showed Lucy her sword.

Lucy nodded.

"Her power could also reinforce someone in battle." Gajeel stated.

"That's true. With a little more training you could be helping others by overpowering their weapons!" Levy exclaimed.

Lucy slowly stood up and stretched.

"Alright! Let's try with the sword." Lucy said.

"Are you sure?" Gray asked her as she stood up.

"Yeah. I'm sure. I feel fine." Lucy assured him.

Levy handed her the short sword. Lucy grabbed it and closed her eyes. She concentrated her whole body on her hand and the sword.

Her hand started glowing and the glow flowed over to the sword.

The sword glowed a bright golden. Lucy opened her golden eyes to see everyone's eyes wide.

She looked at the sword in amassment.

She moved it around and saw the glow move around with the sword.

"That sword is probably a hundred times stronger with her power." Levy spoked amazed as she saw her sword glowing.

Lucy's eyes stopped glowing and soon the sword did as well.

"That was amazing!" Levy cheered as she ran over to Lucy and hugged her.

Lucy smiled and hugged her back.

After Lucy got a short brake they walked out to town.

"So are you two going to join Fairy Tail?" Levy asked.

Lucy looked up at Gray with hopeful eyes. He smiled.

"Yeah. We'll be leaving with you guys." He told Levy.

Lucy's eyes widen. "You wanted to join, right?" Gray asked her.

"Of course!" Lucy exclaimed with a grin.

"You're going to love Fairy Tail, Lu-chan!" Levy said with a smile.

Lucy stopped when she heard Levy call her Lu-chan.

"Lu-chan?" She whispered.

Levy smiled. "Can I call you that?" She asked the blonde.

Lucy giggled and nodded. "Only if I can call you Levy-chan!"

Levy grinned. "Of course!"

A loud scream was heard and all four of them stopped.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked as she stood close to Gray.

Gray held her closer and turned to Gajeel who gave him a small nod.

"Levy take Lucy away from here. Go hide at the library we were at earlier. We'll meet you there soon." Gray told the short girl.

Levy nodded and pulled Lucy away from Gray. Lucy looked nervous and worried as she left with Levy.

'Please don't get hurt Gray.' She thought as she walked towards the library.

"Let's go." Gajeel and Gray rushed to where the scream was heard.

They found four man surrounding anyoung women with long blonde hair.

Gray took out his gun and shot two of the men. Gajeel took out his shotgun and aimed at the other two men.

All four men laid on the ground injured. Gray walked over to the girl while Gajeel tied up the men.

"Are you ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for saving me." The girl told him.

"Why were they following you?" Gajeel asked as he walked over to the girl.

"I was walking around town and those men suddenly started chasing after me.. They called me Lucy Heartfilia and said they would be taking me to the Queen. I tried to tell them that I wasn't her but they wouldn't believe me.." She explained.

"Well just be careful. Their might be more people around here that'll think your Lucy Heartfilia." Gray told her.

She thanked them and walked away.

"Has this happened before?" Gray asked Gajeel.

"Yeah, many girls that fit the description of Lucy have been chased and taken to the Queen. This isn't the first or last time." Gajeel explained.

Gray sighed. "This just keeps getting more complicated."

They both walked to the library. When they arrived both girls rushed towards them and checked for any injuries.

"Not much of a fight?" Levy asked as she saw no injuries on either of them.

"Nah, they didn't even see us." Gajeel answered.

"What was going on?" Lucy asked.

"Some guys were chasing a girl." Gray answered.

"Why?"

"Not too sure.. Probably rape." Gray answered and held her hand as they walked out of the library and resumed their walk to Fairy Tail.

Lucy's eyes widen in horror. "Rape?" She tightened her hold on Gray's hand and stood closer to him.

"Don't worry that'll never happen to you." He whispered as he let go of her hand and patted her head. "I'll never allow that to happen to you."

Lucy blushed.

Levy walked over to Lucy and started showing her something she had found in the book they had purchased.

"Why did you lie to her?" Gajeel asked Gray as he stood beside him walking behind the two girls.

"I don't want her getting worried about other girls going through trouble because of her. She'll just end up blaming herself and I don't want that. It's better if she doesn't know." Gray answered.

"She'll find out sooner or later, though." Gajeel stated.

"I prefer later then sooner."

Soon they had arrived to Fairy Tail.

They stood before the huge doors of the guild. Lucy looked excited of finally arriving and Gray looked nervous and nostalgic.  
It had been a long time since he last was here.

Levy and Gajeel opened the huge doors and Lucy and Gray walked inside the guild.

A huge brawl was taking place inside the guild. Tables, chairs, and people flying around the place.

Gray grinned at this, he was home.

He looked at Lucy and found her staring at the brawl in awe and also looking bit shocked. He held her hand and smiled at her.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy." He told her with a grin.

Lucy blushed and smiled.

She had finally arrived to Fairy Tail.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 9 of Desperate Measures!

~IceKeys121


	11. Chapter 10

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, favorite, and followed this story!

* * *

**Chapter 10: Salamander **

Levy rushed towards the crazy guild with a huge grin.

"We're back!" She yelled.

This got the attention of some of the members. Many eyes turned towards the guilds door and their eyes widen in shock when they saw Gray.

"Gray! It's nice to see you back at the guild!" A women holding a bottle of booze came and patted Gray's back.

She grinned and look at Lucy. "You must be Lucy. Its nice meeting you, I'm Cana."

Lucy smiled back. "It's nice to meet you as well, Cana."

"Lucy, Gray I'm glad to see you again!" Mira ran towards them. She hugged Lucy, to which the blonde ended up hugging her as well.

"Your not leaving the guild right? Your here to stay and become members, correct?" Mira asked. She ended the hug and looked up at Gray.

"Were here to stay. Lucy and I would like to join Fairy Tail." He answered the white haired women.

Cheers were heard around the guild and many of the members came to greet their friend back.

Mira grinned. "I should get you both stamped!"

Lucy looked over at Gray and saw him surrounded by his friends. She sighed and tried walking over to where Mira had disappeared to but was stopped by a young looking man with glasses and orange hair.

The man grabbed her hand and kissed it. Lucy blushed when she saw this. When his face looked up to meet hers he smirked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy. I'm Loke and I'm totally available." Lucy's eyes widen and her face turned a deep red.

Before she could say something someone pushed Loke away from her.

"Get away from her Loke!" Gray yelled.

Loke chuckled. "Well I'm glad to see you again, Gray."

Gray rolled his eyes. "Wish I could say the same.."

"That hurts my feelings, you know?!" Loke put a hand on his chest and looked hurt. He then bursted out laughing when he saw Gray mumble something about not caring about his feelings.

Gray was pulled over by Cana and Loke followed him. He turned to look at Lucy one last time and flashed her a smile.

"Tell me what days you'll be free so I can take you out on a date!" he yelled and turned around to follow Gray.  
Once he stood next to the raven haired man he received a punch on the head.

"I told you to leave her alone!"

"Damn, you are a very possessive man!" Loke yelled. He rubbed his head while he walked over to the drunken women.

Lucy giggled. She looked over at Gray and Loke and smiled. They looked like close friends, though Gray didn't show any emotion towards seeing his friend again.

This made Lucy remember what Lyon had told her before leaving his house.

Flashback:

Lucy and Lyon stood by the kitchen. They both stared at Gray and Juvia, who both stood inside the kitchen cooking, well at least Juvia was. She was trying extremely hard to get Gray to understand the basics of cooking but the man was failing at it miserably.

Lucy giggled. Every little mistake Gray made was hilarious in her eyes. He really was something, she thought.

"He's not as perfect as he seems." Lyon chuckled. He stared at his girlfriends frustrated face and at the innocent shrug Gray was giving her. He shook his head and turned to Lucy.

He noticed how her eyes followed Gray and how her cheeks turned a slight pink color every time he did something innocent and stupid.

He patted her head and let out a soft chuckle. " He's not a bad guy, huh? Deep down he really is a soft guy, who can show innocent faces. He really is a nice guy. He is very worried about your safety and well being, you could say that he really does like you. So please don't ever leave his side. Take care of him as well."

Lucy's eyes widen and her face turned completely red. Each and every single word Lyon had said repeating in her head.

"I-I promise.. I won't ever leave his side. I will protect him with my life as well." She whispered. Her eyes looking down and her cheeks a deep red, she was embarrassed from what she had told Lyon.

Lyon smiled. He was glad that she at least cared for him as well.

Lucy smiled as well. Her attention turning back at Gray and Juvia. He at least knew how to scramble the eggs and Juvia looked a little pleased.

Lcuy giggled and placed her arms behind her back with her wrists crossed.  
She hoped she could stay with Gray for a long time. Forever.

End of Flashback.

She blushed a little as she remembered what had happened. She would definitely keep her promise to Lyon..

She turned around and saw Mira approaching her with a grin.

"Where do you want your stamp?" She asked the blonde.

Lucy bit her lip as she thought of a place to have her stamp. She looked down and saw her right hand.

She placed her right hand out to Mira and smiled. "On the back of my right hand."

Mira nodded. "Alright, what color would you like it?"

"Pink." Lucy answered.

Mira stamped Lucy's hand and soon a pink Fairy Tail stamp appeared in the back of her right hand.

Lucy's eyes widen and a grin appeared on her face. She was officially a member of Fairy Tail.

"I should go find Gray and get him stamped. I'll see you in a bit." Mira ran off to find Gray.

Lucy walked to a nearby table and sat down. She laid her head down as she watched from afar Gray and Mira. A blush formed on her cheeks when she saw Gray take off his shirt to get a deep blue stamp on his chest.

She heard someone giggle and looked up to find a young white haired women, that looked a lot like Mira, standing before her.

She wore a long purple dress that stood freely around here. Lucy noticed the girls huge stomach and her eyes widen as she realized the girl was probably pregnant.

The girl sat down in front of Lucy and smiled.

"Hi my names Lisanna. It nice to finally get to meet you, Lucy."

Lucy smiled back. "It's nice meeting you as well, Lisanna."

"This place may seem crazy and rambunctious but it's a great place to meet a lot of nice people who you'll soon see as family." Lisanna told Lucy. She placed a hand on her large belly as she starred at the brawl Gray and Gajeel had started around the guild.

"It does seem quite loud and noisy but it makes me forget that I'm actually being looked for all around the Kingdom. I think I'll get used to this place soon enough." Lucy rested her head on her hand. She stared at Gray and Gajeel, who stood in the middle of the guild, yelling and punching each other.

Lisanna giggled. "If you think this is crazy then just wait till Natsu arrives. This place will just get a thousand times worse." Lisanna's cheeks went a deep red just by thinking about the pink haired man.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Natsu? Who is that?" Lucy asked.

"Just one of the most annoying and dumbest people this whole guild has ever had." Gray answered. He sat down next to Lucy.

"I have to agree with Gray in this. Salamander is the biggest idiot I have ever met." Gajeel commented. He took a seat next to Lisanna.

"Talking about Natsu..Where is he?" Gray asked.

"He heard about some man calling himself salamander around Hargeon and thought it might be Igneel. He left early this morning." Lisanna slowly stood up.

Once she was standing Grays eyes went wide.

Levy came running towards the table and smiled.

"How's the pregnancy going, Lisanna?" The short girl asked.

"Its definitely not getting better. I'm hating my mood swings and some of the stuff I eat are just too weird. I've never liked spicy food and now I'm eating that every day.." Lisanna answered with a sigh. She placed a hand on her belly and turned to see a very shocked Gray.

"Your pregnant...?"He stated more than asked.

Lisanna nodded.

"I can't believe that idiot is becoming a dad.." Gray said. His eyes still wide as he saw Lisanna's big belly.

"I thought the same thing when they both announced it to the guild." Gajeel told Gray.

"Who's the dad?" Lucy asked. A bit confused as to who they where referring to when they said idiot, though something told her it was the man they had been talking about a few minuets ago.

"Natsu is the dad." Lisanna answered.

"Yep, a little salamander is growing in there." Gajeel said pointing at Lisanna's belly, making Lucy giggle.

"How far are you?" Levy asked.

"Seven months."

"Already! So we'll be having a miniature Natsu running around the guild soon?!" Gray exclaimed.

Levy bursted out laughing and Lisanna let out a giggle.

"I guess." she answered.

"So where are you two going to stay at tonight?" Mira asked as she took a seat in the table.

"Not sure.. I have to go look for an apartment.." Gray answered. A hand rubbing his neck as he thought about it.

"Well your not going to go look for an apartment tonight so you need somewhere to stay while you find a place for you and Lucy.. So why don't you and Lucy come over and stay with Lisanna and me." Mira told Gray.

Gray bit his lip as he thought over Mira's offer.

"If we won't be a bother than I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea." Gray answered.

Mira grinned." Then it's set! You two will be staying with us!"

Gray sighed and turned to find Lucy standing and talking to Lisanna. She seemed to be getting along with her just find. Their giggles filled Grays ears and a smile formed on his lips.

"She'll be safe here." Gray's eyes widen at the sound of the voice. He turned and found Fairy Tails master sitting on the table.

"Master?!"

"I'm glad your back with us, Gray. Don't worry about Lucy's safety. Everyone at the guild already knows that our biggest priority is to keep her safe. No matter what." The old man glanced towards the girls.

Mira, Levy, and Lucy giggled as they saw Lisanna chunk down a plate of spicy food.

"I guess she will be safer here." Gray said. His eyes never leaving Lucy's smiling face.

"Of course she will." Master stated. He stood up from the table and jumped off.

"Don't take your eyes off of her."He told Gray as he walked away.

Gray's answer made the old man smile.

"Never."

The seriousness in his voice was what made Makarov nod in approval.

'I promised she would be kept safe and I won't leave you down on that promise, Porlyusica..' Makarov thought as he walked up to his office.

* * *

"Welcome to your new home!" Mira announced as the four of them walked inside a small house near Fairy Tail.

Lucy looked around and sighed in content. She was glad she would be able to settle down for a while.

"Theres one spare room. It's ok if you two share a room?" Lisanna asked.

"Yeah that's fine." Gray answered.

Lisanna nodded and walked them to a small room. They walked inside the room and Lucy's cheeks turned a deep red when she saw only one bed inside the room.

"I left spare clothes for you both here.. See you in the morning." Mira said as she started walking out the room with Lisanna.

"Thanks.. Goodnight." Gray said while he walked over to the bed and sat down.

"Sleep well." Lisanna said before closing the door.

Lucy let out a sigh and saw another door in the room, she assumed it was the bathroom. She walk over to the door and just as she had thought,it was a bathroom.

She grabbed the pajama Mira had left for her and walked over to the bathroom.

"Don't peek!" She yelled before closing the door.

Gray raised and eyebrow and sighed. "Wasn't even thinking about doing that.."  
Though, the thought of Lucy stripping her clothes and changing into pjs did make him blush.

He took off his shoes and jacket and got under the covers.

He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. He heard Lucy come out of the bathroom and walk over to the bed.

She went under the covers and laid down as far away from Gray as possible. Her cheeks a bright red just from being in the same bed with him.

"Thanks for bringing me to Fairy Tail." She whispered.

Gray opened his eyes and turned towards Lucy. She blushed as she saw his eyes on hers.

"I-I'm happy to be able to meet new people, make new friends, and smile. It makes me forget that I'm being searched for.. That the Queen wants me dead.. It makes me forget that maybe one day I-I'll be captured by her and killed-"

"Stop" Gray grabbed her hands and pulled her towards his chest.

He hugged her close to him and Lucy closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest.

"Don't say that you'll end up dead because I'll never allow that. The Queen won't lay a hand on you! I swear that I'll protect you with my life. Dying or getting captured or not an option. You're staying at Fairy Tail forever. No one is going to take away your happiness. They won't take you away from Fairy Tail, from your friends, from me..I promise."

Lucy nodded. Tears running down her cheeks. She felt Grays hand pat her head and she hugged him close to her.

"Thank you." She whispered before falling asleep in Grays arms.

Gray looked down at the sleeping blonde and smiled.

He kissed her forehead and hugged her closer to him.

"If only you knew how much I truly care for you.. You're my most precious person, Lucy."

* * *

Gray and Lucy woke up on each others arms. Gray was the first to wake up and he slowly made his way out of bed and walked out the room.

He found Mira and Lisanna in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Good morning!" Lisanna greeted.

"Morning." Gray answered with a yawn.

He walked over to a small table near the kitchen an turned towards Lisanna.

"When is Natsu getting back?" He asked.

"He should of been back by now.. I'm kind of worried. He said he wouldn't take more than a day.. I'm just hoping he's alright.."Lisanna told Gray.

"I'm also worried. There are a lot of rumors going around of a dark guild that was seen near Hargeon. I just hope Natsu didn't stumble across them and tried to take them all by himself." Mira added as she walked over to the table with the food.

"Knowing Natsu he would do something like that.." Gray sighed. "Maybe I should go look for him."

Lisanna walked over to the table and sat down.

"That isn't such a bad idea.." Mira said.

"It'd be nice if you'd do that." Lisanna added.

"Alright. I'll head off to Hargeon after breakfast."Gray said as he stretched his arms .

"Morning." A sleepy Lucy walked over to the table and sat down. She rubbed her eyes as she sat down and waited for her eyes to get accustomed to the light.

"Good morning, Lucy." Mira greeted and placed her plate in front of her.

They all started eating and obviously Gray finished first and stood up.

"I'll start getting ready to leave to Hargeon then." He rinsed his plate and started walking towards the room.

"Hargeon?" Lucy asked.

"He's going to go look for Natsu.." Lisanna answered.

Lucy quickly stood up. "I'll go as well."

"No, you'll stay here with Mira and Lisanna." Gray answered. He kept walking towards the room.

"But I want to go with you." Lucy tried walking towards Gray but froze when she saw his stern face.

"I said you'd stay." He said and walked inside the room, shutting it and leaving Lucy outside and without a way of coming in.

Her hands shook in fear of being left behind by Gray, but it was also mostly due to how harsh his actions were towards her.

She felt a soft hand touch her shoulder.

She turned and found Lisanna standing next to her.

"He's worried about you. Theres a dark guild around Hargeon and he doesn't want to get you in any kind of danger.." Lisanna explained.

Lucy bit her lip and her hands curled up into fists.

"Mira can you help me get ready to leave to Hargeon." Lucy asked. She turned towards the older white haired girl, who was smiling and standing up.

"Of course!" Mira pulled Lucy towards her room.

"But Mira-nee! Gray just said that Lucy would stay with us!" Lisanna argued as she walked behind the two girls.

"Yeah he did, but things don't always go as Gray wants them too." Mira answered.

She took out a bunch of clothes and started picking out and outfit for Lucy.

Lisanna sighed and helped out with Lucy's hair.

* * *

Gray walked out the room and found Lisanna standing near the door with a key held in her hand.

She saw him and smiled. She threw the key towards Gray, which he caught and stared at her questionably.

"What's this for?" He asks her.

"For the motorbike Elfman gave to me a long time ago.. You'll need it to get to Hargeon faster." Lisanna answered him.

Gray thanked her. He looked around for a certain blonde and sighed when he didn't see her anywhere around the house. He guessed she probably was mad and had locked herself in Lisanna's room.

"Good Luck. Hope you find him soon." Lisanna told Gray while he walked out the house.

"Thanks."

He walked outside and found Lisanna's purple motorbike. He raised and eyebrow when he saw a someone siting on the bike.

"Lucy?! Didn't I tell you to stay?!" He exclaimed as he saw her seating on the bike.

Her arms crossed around her chest and her face looking at anything but him as she sat on the bike.

She wore a pink short skirt with a black belt that held her pouch of keys and a pair of long black boots. A white long sleeve shirt an her hair was down and decorated with a pink hair band.

And a small pink backpack strapped to her back

"I'm not gonna let you leave without me." She told him.

He let out a sigh.

"You better not get hurt." She smiled and moved away from the bike and let him get on.

She go on the bike and hugged him.

He smirked and started the bike.

They would both go and find the Salamander.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed Chapter 10 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

~IceKeys121


	12. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, followed and favorite this story! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story! :D

* * *

**Chapter 11: A New Team**

Lucy's eyes brightened as Gray drove near Hargeon's port. It was her first time seeing the ocean and she was mesmerized by it.

Gray parked the bike near a restaurant that was located in the middle of town.

He got off the bike and saw as Lucy still sat on the bike looking around town. She slowly took off her helmet and placed it down.

She got off the bike and walked towards Gray.

"So where are we heading to first?" She asked as she saw him start walking and followed him.

"First we're going to a small shop around here." Gray answered.

"A shop? Why?" Lucy asked.

"You'll see."

Lucy raised an eyebrow as she followed him.

They arrived at a small shop that sold clothes. Lucy looked around the shop.

She felt Gray hold her hand and pull her over to the dressing rooms. He pushed her inside of one and handed her a cloak.

"Put that on!" He told her as he closed the curtain.

Lucy looked at the black cloak confused.

She unfolded it and saw that it wasn't long. It was only a bit longer than her skirt.

She placed it around her shoulder and fastened the cloaks pin around the collar.

She looked at herself on the mirror and actually didn't hate how it looked.

She walked out of the dressing room and saw Gray waiting for her near the dressing rooms.

He turned to look at her and smiled.

"It suits you.. Alright let's go, I already paid for it so we're ready to start looking around town for Natsu." He started heading out the shop and Lucy followed.

"Why do I have to wear this?" Lucy asked as they walked out of the shop.

"You might get recognized and this will keep your identity hidden. It's better to just hurry and find Natsu without any other complications." He turned around and pulled Lucy's hood over, covering her face.

"Better." He commented and kept walking.

Lucy sighed and walked next to him.

They walked near the middle of town and saw a group of women surrounding a tall man with dark blue hair.

A couple of women ran past Lucy heading over to the crowd.

"It's the salamander! I heard that guy is super strong and he's from the strongest guild, Fairy Tail!"

Lucy turned to Gray. "Isn't that Natsu?"

Gray furrowed his eyebrow and shook his head.

"That man, the one surrounded by the women, isn't Natsu. Lets go check it out." They started walking over to the crowed.

"All you beautiful ladies are invited to the party I'm holding on my ship!" The dark blue haired man exclaimed and the girls cheered.

"Hey you aren't Igneel!" A man with pink hair and a long black cloak with red flames on the bottom, walked up to the man.

"No, I'm the salamander, kid! Do you want an autograph?" The blue haired man asked as he signed a poster.

He handed it to the pink haired man.

"Why would I want that? You're a fake.. I guess I just waisted my time looking for Igneel." The pink haired man looked at the poster and threw it on the floor.

He walked out of the crowed leaving the blue haired man looking at him in annoyance but soon forgetting about the pink haired man as he received attention from the women and he kept talking about his party.

"That's Natsu!" Gray exclaimed.

"The pink haired one?" Lucy asked.

Gray nodded and pulled her after Natsu.

"Natsu!" The pink haired man turnsed around and his eyes widened when he saw Gray.

"Gray?! Whatcha doing around here?"

"I came here looking for you. Lisanna got worried about you." Gray answered as he stood in front of Natsu.

"You saw Lisanna? Wait, are you coming back to Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked.

"I actually joined again.. I was there yesterday and I saw Lisanna. She had quite a huge stomach, I'm still shocked that you're becoming a dad, congrats." Gray walked over to Natsu and patted his shoulder.

Natsu grinned. "Thanks, I'm actually shocked myself but I'm happy either way."

Natsu turned over to Lucy and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's this?" He walked over to Lucy and tried taking off her hood but was stopped by Gray.

"It's Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia." Natsu looked over at Gray and dropped his arm.

"That's right. You're protecting the Heartfilia." Natsu looked over at the cloaked women and turned back to Gray.

"I left my motorbike near the center of town. Should we start heading to Magnolia?" Natsu asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah, we should start heading towards Magnolia. I left Lisanna's motorbike near a restaurant near the center of the town."

"Oh I parked my motorbike around there as well. Lets start heading over to that restaurant." Natsu suggested.

They started walking over to the restaurant but stopped when they heard a scream.

"What was that?" Lucy asked as she hid behind Gray.

Natsu turned around an pointed towards a park.

"I'm sure it came from over there." He told them.

Gray nodded and took hold of Lucy's hand as they ran towards the park.

When they arrived at the park they found four men tying a young women up.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Natsu exclaimed as he took out a gun and pointed it towards the men.

One of the men stood up and took out a sword.

"We're just following orders. Don't get in our way, kid."

"Orders from who?" Gray asked as he stood next to Natsu holding his gun.

"That's none of your business." The man answered with a chuckle.

"Please help me! The-they're trying to take me away and sell me as a slave." The girl cried as she moved around trying to free herself.

One of the men kicked her, causing her to faint and fall to the ground.

"She talked way too much." The man said as he took out his sword.

All four men stood before them holding swords.

"Swords, huh? Doesn't this remind you of someone?" Gray asked Natsu with a smirk.

"It sure does. Swords always remind me of Erza and it doesn't bring any pleasant memories." Natsu answered. Gray chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Erza?" Lucy asked.

"She's the scariest women in Fairy Tail. She's like a monster!" Natsu told Lucy.

Lucy flinched and turned to Gray, who nodded in agreement.

"Stand back, Lucy." Gray ordered Lucy and she nodded. She walked a few steps away and watched as the guys were surrounded by the four men.

"So guns against swords, heh." One of the men commented.

"Maybe not." Natsu said as he took out a long black sword.

"You use a sword?" Gray asked.

"It comes in handy." Natsu told him and Gray shook his head and smirked.

They went back to back. Getting surrounded Natsu smirked and looked at the two men that stood in front of him. "I got your back."

"Same here." Gray answered with a smirk.

One of the men slashed at Natsu with his sword but Natsu quickly stopped the sword with his own.

He used his other hand to shoot the other man on the stomach making him fall on the ground.

He moved his sword and stabbed the remaining man on his stomach.

Gray shot one of the men in the shoulder and stopped the sword from slashing his face with his gun, leaving him defenseless. He saw the man he had shot get up and come at him with his sword. Gray looked up at his gun that was still keeping the sword away from his face and hissed.

He looked over at the man in front of him as he slashed his sword at him. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact.

"Gray!" He opened his eyes when he heard Lucy yell his name.

He pushed the sword away from his face with the gun. And shot the man standing in front of him.

Natsu walked over to the remaining man and tried shooting but his gun was missing bullets. As he struggled with his gun the man slashed at him with his sword right on his torso.

"Natsu!" Gray rushed towards Natsu and saw his clothes starting to get moist with blood.

Natsu hissed from the pain and closed his eyes as he flinched from the pain.

Gray turned to the man and gave him a murderous glare.

Lucy rushed over to Natsu. "I'll cure his injury."

Gray nodded and stood up. He saw Lucy pull Natsu over to the side and turned to the man.

The man smirked and chuckled.

He slashed his sword at Gray. Gray glared at the man and stopped the sword with his hand. Blood flowed out of his hand and traveled down his arm.

Lucy took off Natsu's coat and shirt and started treating his injury. She took off her cloak and removed her bag from her back using anything she had to clean his injury.

She looked over at Gray and bit her lip when she saw him stop the sword with his hand. She heard Natsu hiss from the pain and returned her attention to Natsu.

Gray glared at the man and pushed the sword away from him.

" I don't go easy on anybody who hurts my comrades." He stated as his cold blue eyes looked straight at the man.

The man flinched and grabbed his sword and placed in front of himself.

He turned over to Lucy and Natsu and raised an eyebrow.

"So you two boys had such a pretty girl with you all the this time? I'm sure Bora would love to have that girl join the party and maybe even make her his girl." Gray glared at the man and kicked him in the stomach.

The man stumbled back and fell. He chuckled and looked up at Gray.

"What's the problem, kid? Scared to think of your girl becoming Bora's?"

Gray grabbed Natsu's sword that he had dropped and pointed it at the man.

"I won't let that happen!" He raised the sword and stabbed the man on his stomach.

The man screamed in pain. Gray removed the sword from his stomach and walked over to the young women that laid unconscious on the ground. He picked her up and walked over to Lucy, who had just finished bandaging Natsu's injury.

She looked over at Gray and saw when he laid the young women near Lucy and walked over to her.

Gray sat next to Lucy and she quickly pulled his hand and started healing his injury.

Gray stared as Lucy's glowing hand healed his injury and remembered what the man had said. Just thinking of Lucy becoming someone else's girl made him mad. He dropped his head on her shoulder.

"You'll be the death of me." He whispered huskily in her ear.

Lucy's eyes went wide. Gray slowly looked up and saw a confused Lucy. He chuckle and saw his right hand bandaged. Slowly Gray raised his hand to cup Lucy's cheek, moving his thumb along the bottom of her jaw. Lucy raised her hand and placed it over his, their eyes locked on each other.

Gray started leaning closer to her, his breath washing over her face. Lucy saw the intention in his eyes and slowly closed her eyes, seeing that Gray was doing the same. Gray had forgotten about everything, all he could think about was Lucy, just about Lucy.

They were about to close the gap between them, when suddenly,

"So are you guys gonna kiss or not? Cuz you're taking forever."

Hearing Natsu's voice, both youngsters immediately sprung apart, eyes wide, and a deep blush covering their faces.

Gray turned towards Natsu and glared at him.

"What kind of question is that! Hot headed moron!" Gray yelled as he stood up.

"We'll you were taking forever! If you're going to kiss her just do it! Don't take a century, ice princess!" Natsu yelled back as he stood up.

Both wore a murderess glare.

"What did you call me, squinty eyes?!" Gray yelled.

"I called you an ice princess, droopy eyes!" Natsu retorted.

Lucy stared at the two boys as they kept throwing insults at each other. She placed a hand on her lips an remembered what had happened.

Were they really going to kiss?

A blush covered her cheeks as she thought about it.

She looked over at the girl and noticed she was awake and started standing up. Lucy walked over to her and helped her up.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked her.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, thanks for saving me."

Lucy smiled. "It's nothing. The boys would of never left a defenseless girl alone when she's in trouble."

The girl smiled and raised an eyebrow when she noticed the two boys arguing with each other.

"So who were those men?" Lucy asked.

"Not sure.. They kept saying they would take me to a man called Bora and that I would get sold as a slave. They tied me up and right after that you arrived." She answered.

Lucy nodded. She looked over at the boys and sighed.

"Do you need help getting home?" She asked the girl.

"No, I live around here so I'm fine but thank you."

"Alright then." The girl stood up and walked away. Lucy waved good bye and the girl returned the wave.

Once the girl disappeared Lucy walked over to the bickering men and separated them.

"We should start heading to Magnolia. Lisanna is waiting for us." Lucy told them.

Hearing Lisanna's name, Natsu quickly backed away and grabbed his coat.

"Well then, lets get going!" He announced and started walking away from the park.

Lucy grabbed her black cloak and placed on herself.

She noticed Gray waiting for her and rushed over to him. She grabbed his hand and smiled.

They both walked hand in hand over to the motorbike and saw Natsu waiting for them on his black bike with red flames decorated on it.

"He really likes fire, huh?" Lucy commented.

"He isn't called salamander for nothing." Gray answered.

"Hey lover boy you take forever to walk!" Gray glared at Natsu and was about to start an argument but was stopped by Lucy.

"You can wait until we get to Magnolia." Lucy told him as she pushed him over to Lisanna's purple motorbike.

Natsu chuckled and stuck his tongue out at Gray. The raven haired man glared at him one last time before putting on his helmet.

He felt Lucy's thin arms wrap around him and he started the bike following Nastu.

As Gray drove to Magnolia he couldn't stop thinking about how much he had wanted to kiss Lucy. Sure he had done it before, but this time it was different. His heart had felt different and the way she looked and how she hadn't stopped him, everything made Gray believe that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't wrong about how he felt about Lucy and she maybe felt the same way. He smiled as he finally accepted his feelings. He wasn't as dense as Natsu when it came to love, he knew what love was and he knew that the way his heart would beat for Lucy wasn't just because, there was a reason behind it.

So when they arrived at Magnolia and he saw Lisanna run up to Nastu, the way they hugged, the way Natsu placed his hand on her huge belly, and the way he talked sweet nothings to her stomach, Gay realized he wanted to have something special with Lucy.. Just like Lisanna and Natsu.

"Hey Gray we should make a team!" Natsu announced as he held Lisanna.

This brought Gray back to reality. He looked over at Nastu and raised and eyebrow.

"A team?" He asked.

"Yeah, a team. You, Lucy and me! We made quite a great team today! And Lucy was of much help with her healing ability. She helped me out big time! It's not going to leave a mark ,right?" He asked Lucy.

Lucy turned to Natsu and bit her lip "I'm afraid it will."

"I think it's fine." Gray answered, still thinking about what Nastu had said before, about making a team.

Natsu's eyebrow twitched and he looked over at Gray in annoyance.

"How is me getting a scar on my chest fine! I hate getting scars.."

"I was talking about the team." Gray sighed.

"Oh, that. Ok so we're a team! From today on we are Team Natsu!" The salamander exclaimed.

"Why Team Natsu! If anything it should be Team Gray!" The raven haired man exclaimed.

"I was the one who thought of making a team so it's only fair if we call the team after myself!" Natsu retorted.

And just like that the two of them started a new argument.

"So Lucy do to feel like eating cookies?" Lisanna asked, ignoring the argument between the two boys.

"Yeah, cookies sound good. I'm hungry." Lucy answered as she walked inside with Lisanna and left the two bickering boys outside.

* * *

In the streets of Magnolia a women with long scarlet hair walked around wearing an armor, two swords wrapped to her back and a gun hanged near her hip.

Murmurs were heard around town from people that saw her walk around the streets.

"Hey isn't that the Titania?"

"Yeah, she's been gone for a while."

"I heard she's Fairy Tail's strongest member."

The women ignored the murmurs and kept walking towards her destination.

She stopped walking once she stood in front of the huge doors of Fairy Tail.

Fairy Tail's strongest women was back.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 11 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading!

Please leave a lovely review, or tell me if I need to improve in anything! I would love to hear from all of you. :)

~IceKeys121


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Titania**

* * *

"Why don't you take the sword? Or maybe a gun? I really don't think you need a weapon anyways..Why are we here?" Gray questioned as he stood next to Lucy.

The blonde had decided she wanted to be more useful in missions and decided to get a weapon. Levy had told her about the guilds weapon shop that was run by Mira's younger brother, Elfman, and decided to look around the shop.

"I already told you, I want to be more useful. I hate to just stand there and watch Natsu and you do everything." Lucy answered. She turned over to a counter and examined some of the swords.

"But your healing abilities are already useful enough. You don't need a weapon." Natsu mumbled as he ate his sandwich. He had chosen to head over and help Lucy choose a weapon but wasn't too sure if the girl really needed one.

Lucy sighed and took hold of a long silver sword. She tried holding it up but failed miserably. It was way too heavy for her.

"Maybe a lighter weapon, Lucy-san. How about a gun?" Elfman suggested as he took the sword from Lucy and handed her a gun.

Lucy examined the gun and held it out trying to see if it was good for her. She remembered Gray shooting at people and how he used it and shuddered. She would not be able to shoot the gun.

She placed the gun down on the counter and shook her head. "A gun won't due.. Isn't there anything else?" She asked looking around the shop.

Elfman hummed and turned to the back of the store. "Maybe I can look for something else. Just give me a minuet." He turned around and walked over to the back.

Lucy turned towards Gray and noticed the boy was holding a long silver sword.

"Are you buying that?" Lucy asked him. She looked over the sword and then looked back at him.

Gray shook his head. He placed it down and let out a long sigh. "No, I've never been good with swords."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You seemed to know what you were doing when you used Natsu's sword."

Gray stuck his hands on his pockets and directed his gaze to some guns around the shop. "That was just an impulse. I was mad at the man for hurting Natsu and I just grabbed the first thing I saw. But to be honest, I wouldn't be able to stand a match with swords. I would be out cold in seconds."

"Maybe if you practice you could-" Lucy stopped when she saw Gray's dark blue eyes turn to look at her.

"It's not needed, Lucy. Natsu seems to be good with swords so we're fine." Gray told her and walked over to check some shotguns.

Lucy sighed and turned towards the counter. If they had a mission with men only using swords like last time, would Gray be fine just letting Natsu do most of the work? Wouldn't it be the same thing that happened last time? One of them would surely come out injured again.

"You don't hold it like that! Hold it a bit more straight but don't leave such a wide opening! The first thing their aiming at is your chest." Lucy turned at the sound of the girly voice.

She walked over to the sound and found Levy and Gajeel by the sword section. The tall man held a long black sword and Levy seemed to be teaching him how to hold it.

"Women I know what I'm doing!" Gajeel exclaimed as he put the sword down and glared at the small girl.

"Of course you don't! You were doing it wrong! Imagine what Erza would say if she would of seen you holding it like that.." Levy mumbled the last part.

Gajeel shuddered at the mentioning of the Titania's name. "Don't even say her name.. Plus I have my own style of holding a sword."

"Sure, sure." Levy turned around and saw Lucy standing near them.

The blue haired girl smiled and ran towards the blonde. "Lu-chan! Whatcha doing around here?!"

Lucy smiled. "I'm trying to find a weapon for myself." She answered.

Levy broke the hug and hummed. "Have you found anything?"

Lucy shook her head. Levy scratched her head and thought of something before snapping her fingers and holding out a sword. "Have you tired any swords?"

Lucy nodded." Yeah but I'm not too good at that." Levy clicked her tongue and turned over to the end of the shop.

Something caught the blue haired girls eyes and she pulled the blonde over to the end of the shop.

"How about this?" Levy asked as she placed out a long black whip.

Lucy took hold of it and let the long whip fall to the ground, a heart shaped ending touching the ground.

"It looks find.." Lucy whispered as she played around with the whip, moving it around herself.

Levy smiled. She placed a hand to the side of her face and got closer to Lucy. "Maybe you could even use your power on it, like you did last time with my sword and your keys." Levy whispered.

Lucy's eyes went wide. "You think it would work?" Levy let out a soft giggle.

"If it worked on the sword and all twelve keys I'm sure it'll work on the whip."

Lucy wrapped the whip and held it up to her chest. "Then I guess I'll be taking it."

Lucy walked up to the counter and noticed Elfman and Natsu looking through a big box filled with weapons. "Oh, Lucy-san! Just give us a minuet and we might find a good weapon for you!" Elfman told her as he kept looking through the box.

"I'll be purchasing this." Gajeel announced as he placed a long black sword on the counter.

Elfman looked over at Gajeel and walked up to him. He turned over to Lucy and noticed the whip that she was holding.

"She will be purchasing the whip." Levy told Elfman as she walked up to stand next to Gajeel.

"A whip? Alright." Lucy was about to hand him the whip when someone took it from her.

She turned around and saw Gray examining the whip. "Are you sure about this?" He asked her, his eyes still on the whip.

"Yes." Gray turned to look at Lucy and sighed. "How much will I be paying?" He asked as he walked over to Elfman.

As he purchased the whip, Lucy couldn't help smiling. She would finally be useful in missions.

* * *

"You owe me big money." Gray mumbled as he took a bite from his bread.

Lucy sighed. "I know.." Natsu, Gray, and Lucy sat at a table at the guild. They had decided to take a break after helping Lucy try out her new whip. It worked fine and Lucy seemed to be pretty good at handling the whip.

"I can't believe it cost the same as a sword." Gray kept mumbling as he took another bite.

Natsu rested his head on his palm and sighed. "Will you shut up already? We all got it. The whip cost more than it should off, Lucy owes you lots of money, next mission her part will be yours.. Now just shut up."

Gray's eyebrows twitched as he heard the pink haired man talk.

"Why you-" Before Gray could finish the huge doors of the guild opened. Everyone went silent and only the sound of an armor moving around and heels hitting the ground could be heard.

A tall, scarlet haired women wearing an armor stood in the middle of the guild. Gray and Natsu flinched at the sight of the Titania.

The scarlet haired women's eyes landed on Gray's table and she made her way towards team Natsu.

"H-hi Erza." Natsu squeaks out as he sees the tall women stand before them.

She glances towards all of them and sighs. "I would like to join you're team."

Shock was more than evident among all the members of team Natsu. Gray's eyes had grown wider than they had ever been, Natsu's mouth fell completely open, and Lucy smiled awkwardly.

Lucy smiled up at the Titania. "I would love to have you on the team." Lucy tells her, even if she had heard such nasty rumors about her from the guys.

Natsu and Gray gap at Lucy's answer. "Why do you want to team up with us?" Natsu quickly asks.

Erza directs her gaze to Natsu. "Some of the requests are getting harder for me and I need some assistance in some missions. I believe Gray and you are one of the strongest members of the guild and I have heard of Lucy's ability and believe it's very useful. With that said, I think we could form quite an interesting team."

"If Erza joins, team Natsu would become the strongest team in Fairy Tail." Mira comments as she passes by the table holding some used trays.

"Alright." Natsu mumbles. The thought of becoming Fairy Tail's strongest guild had really convinced him.

"I think it's a good idea." Gray finally spoked up as he looked up at Erza who gave him a small nod.

"I've already chosen a request. I hope to see you all early tomorrow in front of the guild." She tells them.

Natsu gaps at this and turns to look at her. "I want to see the request."

Erza takes out the request and hands it to Gray. Natsu hisses and gets up to read the request over Gray's shoulder.

"A man called Bora has been capturing women from around the kingdom and is planning on selling them into slavery.." Gray read out, he turned to look at Natsu. "Wasn't this guy mentioned by those guy we dealt with last time?" Gray asked.

Natsu shrugged. "Not sure..I'm not too good with remembering names.. But this sounds like it'll be a piece of cake, I'm all fired up!"

Gray sighs and hands the request back to Erza. "Then will be seeing you tomorrow." Erza smiled and nods.

She turns over to the blonde and notices she looks a bit afraid of what she just heard Gray read out. Before she can say anything she hears Mira call her over.

"Erza! This arrived this morning." The barmaid hands her a letter. Erza's eyes go wide once she sees who sent it.

"Thanks." She takes the letter and walks out the guild.

"You idiot how could you forget about Bora! We just dealt with his men the other day!"

"Well I'm not good with names or with just remembering these kinds of things! Don't get in my case, droopy eyes!"

"Why you.. I told you to not call me that, pointy eyes!"

As the two boys started a new argument they missed Erza head out the guild, but Lucy didn't. The blonde didn't miss the dark blush covering Erza's cheeks and her glassy eyes.

Lucy stands up and heads over to the bar counter. She notices Mira cleaning the counter and takes a seat near her. "What was that letter about?" Mira stops cleaning and looks over at Lucy.

She walks near Lucy and sighs. "It was from Jellal, Erza's husband." Lucy's eyes grow wide with shock from hearing Erza was married.

"They got married at a young age. They loved each other very much but Jellal was being searched by the kingdom, just like you." Lucy bit her lip and looked down. "He was blamed for the death of King Jiemana's wife. Jellal used to be her personal Knight and when she was found dead the King blamed it on Jellal. He was sentenced to death but Jellal ran away. He created his own guild, Crime Sorciere, and married Erza. He stayed with her for a while but soon decided it would be safer for both of them if he left. He comes and visits from time to time and sends her letters regularly."

Lucy looked down at the counter sadly. It must be hard for Erza to deal with something like that. Lucy knew it must be hard to be far away from someone you love. Her eyes slowly moved over to Gray, who still was arguing with Natsu. When his eyes caught hers she blushed and turned to Mira.

She stood up and fixed her short pink dress. "Thanks for telling me." Mira smiled. "It was no problem."

Lucy walked towards where Erza had disappeared to. She walked out to the front yard of Fairy Tail and noticed some people sitting around tables. Lucy found Erza sitting in a table that was isolated in a corner of the yard. The blonde walked up to her and took a seat in front of the scarlet haired women.

Erza raised her head quickly, surprised to see someone in her table.

Lucy smiled sweetly at her and noticed the tears adorning her face. Erza quickly cleaned her tears away and smiled at Lucy. The blonde noticed the silver ring adorning her finger and smiled.

"You can talk it out to me if you want." Lucy told her. Erza is surprised by this but still smiles.

Erza sighs and looks at her silver ring. "It's just hard to be apart from someone you love. It scares me to think that maybe one of these days I'll just stop receiving these letters, that they'll stop coming. That he'll get caught by the Kingdom. I want him to come and join Fairy Tail, to be able to live together like a happy married couple, to not have to communicate with him by letters, to be able to kiss him, and to hold him in my arms."

Tears start flowing down the Titania's cheeks. Lucy stands up and sits next to the scarlet haired women. She hugs her and cries with her. Her golden tears filling her cheeks and eyes as she hears the Titania's sobs.

"You just need to think positive and maybe someday he'll be waiting outside your house. He'll be here soon, to kiss you, and make you happy." Erza giggles at what the blonde said. Lucy blushes in embarrassment, she had said something weird.

Erza stops giggleling and paths Lucy's head. "You're a very special girl, Lucy."

The scarlet haired women stands up and looks up at the darkening blue sky. "I'll be taking my leave know. I hope to see you tomorrow early in the morning for our mission. If you have any worries about the mission please don't be afraid to tell me. Gray's not the only one that is in charge of your well being, the whole guild is as well. It's my duty to keep you safe. I hope we can become friends, Lucy."

Lucy smiles and nods. "I'll keep that in mind. And I already consider you as a friend, Erza."

The Titania turned around wearing a soft smile and walks out the guild. The blonde girl really was special. She would try to be positive and wait for Jellal, forever. Their love was stronger than anything and they soon will meet again. She wasn't going to doubt that again.

* * *

Lucy looked up at the beautiful dark sky full of stars as she walked towards Mira's house with Gray. The talk she had with Erza still lingering in the back of her mind.

She turned to look at Gray and took hold of his hand. "What would you do if you had to have a long distance relationship?"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking this?"

"I talked to Erza today about, about Jellal."

Gray sighed and turned towards Lucy. "If I was in Jellal's situation I would go crazy. I wouldn't be able to stay away from the person I love for longer than a day. If I was Jellal I would of ran back to the one I love by now. However, Jellal's case is difficult. If he gets caught by the guards at the Kingdom he will get killed."

Lucy looks away from Gray and hugged his arm. "Erza really loves him. I could see it in her eyes."

Gray looked down at the blonde and smiled. He wrapped an arm around her and looked up at the night sky, wishing to stay with Lucy forever.

* * *

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed chapter 12 of Desperate Measures! Thanks for reading! And thanks to everyone that has been supporting this story!

~IceKeys121


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